AWEST 
-POINT- 
WOOING 

BY 

CLARA 
LOUISE 

BURNHAM 


3Sp  Clara  Louise 


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A  WEST  POINT  WOOING 


BY 


CLARA  LOUISE  BURNHAM 


BOSTON  AND  NEW  YORK 
HOUGHTON,  MIFFLIN  AND   COMPANY 

<Cbc  Cinicrsi&c  press,  Cambritige 
1899 


COPYRIGHT,  1899,  BY  CLARA  LOUISE  BURNHAM 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


CONTENTS 

FAOB 

A  WEST  POINT  WOOING 1 

PURSUER  OR  PURSUED  ? 33 

A  CADET  CAMP  EPISODE 75 

A  FRANCO- AMERICAN 92 

THE  CADET  CAPTAIN'S  EXPERIMENT      ....  116 

THE  NEW  ORGAN 155 

A  THANKSGIVING  REVIVAL 178 

THE  SUBJUGATION  OF  Miss  BLAINE 195 

A  MISTAKE  IN  CONSONANTS 215 

A  NEUTRAL  THANKSGIVING 236 

MARY  ANNIE 260 

BY  A  MINUTE 277 

AT  CREST  VIEW 287 


A  West  Point  Wooing  and  The  Cadet  Captain's  Experiment  are 
reprinted  from  "  The  Ladies'  World  "  by  permission  of  the  pub- 
lishers. 


2229447 


A  WEST  POINT  WOOING 

NEAR  a  window  in  the  library  at  West  Point  a 
young  woman  was  sitting.  She  held  in  her  hands 
a  book,  but  her  eyes  often  wandered  from  the  page 
to  the  smooth  green  lawn  without,  or  absently 
sought  the  faces  in  the  large  paintings  which  line 
the  dignified  room. 

In  truth  the  life  of  a  girl  at  West  Point  is  so 
far  more  interesting  to  her  than  any  effort  of  the 
fictionist,  little  wonder  that  the  spell  of  the  latter 
is  feeble  to  hold  her.  She  cannot  spare  time  from 
the  engrossing  heroes  and  heroines  in  her  actual 
surroundings  to  those  who  have  not  the  pleasure  of 
her  acquaintance. 

Of  course  there  are  stars  of  varying  magnitude 
in  the  picturesque  orbit  of  the  post,  and  this  brown- 
haired  young  woman  in  the  library  was  a  bright 
particular  star  of  the  present  summer.  Even 
many  of  the  plebes  —  those  downtrodden,  wing- 
clipped  butts  of  every  upper  classman's  ugly  or 
merry  humors  —  knew  her  face  and  name.  Two 
of  them  were  in  the  library  now,  a  forlorn  Damon 
and  Pythias,  companions  whose  friendly  bond  was 
born  of  their  common  misery. 

Damon,  feigning  to   be   absorbed  in    the   car- 


2  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

toon  of  a  comic  paper,  addressed  his  companion 
softly  :  — 

"  There  is  that  Miss  Elliott,  over  by  the  window." 

The  eyes  of  Pythias  moved  circumspectly  thither 
and  he  started  a  little,  but  not  enough  to  imperil 
the  military  bearing  which  had  been  dearly  gained 
by  many  encounters  with  a  versatile  and  fluent 
yearling  corporal. 

"  I  know  her,"  he  returned,  and  his  heart  began 
to  beat  until  there  was  risk  to  his  beautiful  new 
buttons,  despised  of  maidens,  though  never  so 
shiny. 

The  sentiment  which  caused  such  commotion 
and  made  his  face  crimson  was  one  which  can 
scarcely  be  appreciated  by  one  who  does  not  know 
the  daily  petty  miseries  of  a  plebe  at  our  military 
academy.  When  after  weeks  of  daily  rigors  and 
heartfelt  thanks  that  no  one  near  and  dear  to  him 
is  by  to  witness  his  humiliations,  he  suddenly  sees 
a  face  connected  with  home,  the  associations  called 
up  are  overwhelming.  That  remote,  happy  time 
when  he  was  a  gay,  careless  individual,  respect- 
fully entreated,  comes  up  before  him,  and  the  face, 
though  once  belonging  to  the  most  indifferent  ac- 
quaintance, now  becomes  excitingly  dear,  and  he  is 
filled  with  an  eager  desire  to  be  recognized. 

The  longing  Pythias  felt  at  present  to  strain 
Miss  Elliott  to  his  bell-buttoned  breast  would 
have  remained  just  as  strong  if  she  had  suddenly 
turned  into  old  Jerry,  his  father's  janitor.  His 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  3 

uppermost  thought  was  not  for  her  blue  eyes  and 
the  crisp  freshness  of  her  duck  suit ;  it  was  that 
she  had  broken  gingerbread  with  him  at  his  mo- 
ther's table. 

".I  am  going  to  speak  to  her,"  he  added. 

"Don't!"  responded  Damon,  in  a  whisper  as 
explosive  as  he  dared  make  it,  at  the  same  time 
grasping  his  reckless  friend's  arm.  Damon  had 
arrived  at  stolid  heights,  or  depths,  of  philosophy, 
wherein  he  had  decided  that  a  glance  or  a  word 
outside  of  grooves  prescribed  for  the  "  beasts " 
and  "  things  "  which  composed  his  class  was  not 
worth  the  candle. 

Pythias  was  of  more  elastic  material ;  but  eager 
as  he  was,  he  cast  a  glance  around  the  spacious 
room  before  shaking  off  his  monitor's  hand. 

Damon  anxiously  perceived  his  valorous  inten- 
tions. 

"  Wayne  's  spoony  on  her,"  he  breathed ;  but 
Pythias  was  too  far  gone  to  hear  reason.  Even 
the  name  of  Wayne,  the  adored,  the  worshiped,  the 
unapproachable  cadet-adjutant,  failed  to  awe  him. 
He  had  fallen  under  another  spell,  —  the  thought 
of  home.  He  was  a  boy  again,  and  this  was  only 
Sally  Elliott,  once  the  dearest  friend  of  his  sister 
Winifred.  Not  speak  to  her ?  Well! 

For  Damon  with  his  neutral  policy,  it  was  an 
awesome  sight  to  behold  his  companion  cross  the 
library  with  a  free  stride,  and  present  himself  be- 
fore a  belle  of  such  importance  that  it  was  hard 


4  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

even  to  decide  whether  she  was  an  officer-girl  or  a 
cadet-girl,  so  assiduous  in  her  case  were  the  atten- 
tions of  both  these  antagonistic  rivals. 

"  Miss  Sally !  "  exclaimed  Pythias,  gazing  down 
eagerly  on  the  blue  ribbon  of  her  sailor  hat. 

The  young  woman  looked  up,  the  mild  surprise 
and  doubt  in  her  eyes  giving  place  in  a  moment  to 
recognition. 

"You?"  she  said,  offering  her  hand  heartily. 
"  I  'm  glad  to  see  you.  I  knew  you  were  to  enter 
this  summer.  Sit  down,"  she  continued,  in  the 
hushed  voice  due  the  place,  but  speaking  cordially. 
"  How  are  you  getting  along  ?  What  do  you  think 
of  the  Point  ?  " 

"  Great  place,"  returned  the  young  fellow,  ac- 
cepting the  chair,  and  bending  only  at  the  hips,  as 
he  leaned  toward  her.  "  Never  received  so  much 
attention  in  my  life." 

Her  eyes  sparkled  appreciatively  as  she  scruti- 
nized him. 

"  I  have  been  thinking  about  you.  Winifred 
wrote  me  to  hunt  you  up  when  I  came.  I  was 
asking  Mr.  Paxton  about  you  yesterday." 

At  the  mention  of  the  tactical  officer,  Pythias 
shook  his  head  admiringly. 

"  Do  you  know  Mr.  Paxton  ?  He  is  the  spoon- 
iest  tac.  we  have,"  he  returned,  and  Miss  Elliott 
knew  he  was  referring  to  the  elegance  of  the  lieu- 
tenant's appearance,  and  not  to  the  susceptibility  of 
his  heart. 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  5 

"  I  see  you  have  your  uniform.  Lots  better 
than  the  shell  jacket,  is  n't  it  ?  "  she  went  on. 

Pythias  experienced  a  mild  glow  as  she  looked 
him  over.  One  year  from  now  her  gaze  should  be 
unmixed  with  compassion. 

"  I  asked  Mr.  Wayne  about  you,  too,"  she  con- 
tinued, "  but  he  could  n't  remember." 

"  Of  course  not,"  returned  Pythias.  "  But  I 
am  Mr.  Wayne's  washerwoman." 

"  Indeed  !  "  returned  Miss  Elliott,  approving 
the  smile  with  which  this  announcement  was  made. 
"He  has  the  right  stuff  in  him;  he'll  do,"  she 
thought. 

"  Yes,"  went  on  the  cadet,  "  I  wash  his  gloves ; 
clean  his  buckles,  too.  In  fact,  I  get  a  good  many 
buckles  lent  me,  first  and  last." 

Pythias  looked  so  good-natured  as  he  spoke  that 
Miss  Elliott  nodded  at  him  confidentially. 

"  I  believe  you  have  come  here  to  stay,"  she  said 
encouragingly,  "  and  we  are  all  going  to  be  proud 
of  you." 

These  friendly  words,  and  the  kind,  familiar 
face,  warmed  the  cockles  of  the  lonely  plebe's  heart. 
In  the  fullness  of  his  rare  pleasure,  he  thought  of 
Damon,  and  turned  toward  him  with  the  intention 
of  beckoning  him  over  and  introducing  him. 

A  wild  gaze  of  horror  met  his  genial  look. 
Each  hair  on  Damon's  head  was  evidently  trying 
to  rise.  His  face  was  as  pale  as  the  long  tanning 
of  the  summer  sun  would  permit.  With  one  con- 


6  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

viilsive  jerk  of  his  hand,  he  summoned  Pythias 
back,  then  feigned  to  be  again  absorbed  in  the 
papers  on  the  table  before  him.  Anon  his  eyes 
furtively  rose  to  the  library  entrance,  where  was 
the  apparition  which  had  so  discomposed  him. 

Geoffrey  Wayne,  the  cadet-adjutant,  had  come 
in.  He  was  dressed  for  parade,  and  the  light  glit- 
tered on  his  gold  chevrons  and  radiated  from  his 
white,  polished  trousers,  as  he  paused  a  second  to 
adjust  his  sword-knot,  his  plumed  hat  in  hand. 

Damon  trembled.  He  considered  it  quite  among 
the  possibilities  for  a  violent  explosion  to  shake  the 
library  from  its  foundation  to  its  golden  dome,  if 
Wayne  should  discover  a  groveling  worm  of  the 
dust  like  a  plebe  conversing  with  the  girl  he  had 
distinguished  by  his  own  dazzling  attentions. 

Pythias,  wondering  at  his  friend's  agitation, 
turned  back  to  his  companion. 

"  It  was  so  fortunate  I  happened  to  meet  you 
here,  Miss  Sally,"  he  said.  "  There  are  so  few 
places  where  I  am  allowed  to  go.  I  hope  you  will 
let  me  see  you  again.  It  does  me  more  good  than 
I  can  tell  you.  Just  excuse  me  a  minute,  I  have 
a  friend  over  there  " 

For  Damon  had  again  caught  his  eye  and  mo- 
tioned so  wildly  that  Pythias  rose  perforce,  and 
moved  in  his  direction. 

Only  just  in  time,  according  to  Damon's  judg- 
ment ;  for  now  the  young  adjutant's  irreproachable 
figure  came  into  the  room.  Pythias  perceived 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  7 

the  lighting  of  the  upper  classman's  fine  brown 
eyes,  —  sole  expression  of  pleasure  of  the  dignified 
and  impassive  face  at  perceiving  the  form  by  the 
window. 

"T  thought  you  would  never  leave  her,"  growled 
Damon  through  stiff  lips,  when  Wayne  had  safely 
passed  them.  "  I  saw  him  come  in,  and  if  his  knot 
had  n't  got  twisted  he  'd  have  caught  you." 

"  Caught  me !  "  repeated  Pythias  indignantly, 
unable  to  recollect  all  at  once  his  helpless  plebe 
condition.  "  Nonsense  !  I  am  going  back  to  say 
good-by  to  her." 

"  You  blooming  idiot !  "  returned  Damon,  seizing 
his  companion  by  the  arm  with  a  force  of  mind 
and  body  which  ultimately  carried  him  through 
the  academy's  course  with  flying  colors.  "Your 
head 's  turned.  Come  out  of  this  place.  She  '11 
understand." 

She  did  understand,  and  she  sent  a  pleasant  nod 
to  Pythias  across  Wayne's  broad  shoulder,  as  the 
former  waved  his  cap  to  her  in  his  forced  depar- 
ture. 

"  I  've  been  having  a  very  pleasant  chat  with 
your  washerwoman,"  she  said,  when  Wayne  had 
seated  himself  and  was  looking  into  her  eyes  with 
an  expression  which  he  did  not  even  wish  to  be 
mistakable. 

"  Been  to  the  laundry,  eh  ?  Well,  Paxton  is 
certainly  full  of  resource  when  it  comes  to  enter- 
taining a  young  lady ! " 


8  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

"  I  have  just  been  assured  that  Mr.  Paxton  is 
the  spooniest  tac.  you  have,  so  I  find  I  am  quite 
right  in  admiring  him,"  said  Miss  Elliott  sedately. 

"  Oh,  there  's  no  doubt  of  that,"  returned  the 
cadet. 

"  Your  washerwoman  is  a  man,  as  it  happens." 

"  Oh,  got  Chinamen  in,  have  they  ?  " 

"  Geoffrey  Wayne,  you  don't  know  what  I  'm 
talking  about." 

"  That  is  nothing  new.  Two  years'  experience 
has  adjusted  my  brain  to  that." 

"  I  am  talking  about  the  plebe  who  washes  your 
gloves,"  announced  Miss  Elliott,  with  dignity. 

The  adjutant  raised  his  eyebrows. 

"  What  makes  you  ?  "  he  asked  lightly. 

"  Because  I  like  him.  I  've  always  liked  him. 
Why,  I  have  held  him  in  my  lap  lots  of  times." 

Wayne  looked  a  second,  then  remarked :  — 

"  Odd  taste,  that." 

"  And  I  want  you  to  befriend  him." 

"  You  want  me  to  hold  him  in  my  lap  ?  " 

Miss  Elliott  was  evidently  engrossed  in  remi- 
niscence. 

"  When  he  was  a  few  months  old,"  her  voice 
lowered  even  from  its  subdued  murmur,  "I  dis- 
tinctly remember  that  once  I  dropped  him  on  the 
floor ;  but  I  was  only  six." 

Wayne  shook  his  head. 

"  I  'm  afraid  that  I  should  do  the  same  thing, 
even  at  my  advanced  age." 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  9 

"  I  dare  say  he  polished  the  very  finery  that  you 
have  on,"  pursued  the  girl,  regarding  the  distorted 
reflection  of  her  face  in  the  adjutant's  shining 
breast  buckle. 

"Been  whining  to  you,  has  he?"  asked  the 
cadet-officer  quietly,  examining  his  sword-hilt. 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,"  returned  the  other  indig- 
nantly. "  He  is  the  jolliest  boy  in  the  world. 
Whine  !  I  guess  not." 

"  I  have  been  trying  to  find  you  to  talk  about 
to-night's  german,"  said  Wayne,  with  evident 
impatience  of  her  subject,  "  and  there  goes  the 
first  call  now ; "  he  went  on  to  enlarge  upon 
this  common  interest,  and  Pythias  was  forgot- 
ten. 

Miss  Elliott  saw  her  plebe  again  the  next 
morning.  Guard  mounting  was  over,  and  the 
band  was  giving  the  customary  morning  concert 
under  the  elms.  The  laughing,  chatting,  and 
flirting,  that  had  been  quenched  by  the  roll  of  the 
inexorable  drum  at  the  dance  the  night  before, 
was  going  gayly  forward  from  the  point  where  it 
left  off. 

In  contrast  to  the  groups  of  talkative  youths  and 
maidens  distributed  all  about,  stood  a  small  squad 
of  motionless  plebes  in  dress  uniform  and  pain- 
fully braced.  They  were  offering  themselves  in 
competition,  each  hoping  to  be  chosen  for  the  color 
guard,  the  duty  of  watching  the  flag  all  day  carry- 
ing with  it  certain  privileges,  and  being  bestowed 


10  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

upon  the  cadet  whose  person  and  accoutrements 
should  be  found  by  the  adjutant  to  be  the  most 
nearly  faultless. 

As  Geoffrey  Wayne  in  the  gray  and  crimson, 
white  and  gold  glory  of  his  dress  uniform  ap- 
proached the  waiting  line,  Sally  Elliott  stood  near, 
regarding  them.  Beside  her  was  Pythias,  whom 
she  had  sent  for  to  sit  with  her  during  guard 
mount.  He  was  in  a  sympathetic  tremor,  his  eyes 
fixed  on  Damon,  who  was  a  member  of  the  squad, 
and  whose  toilet  Pythias  had  zealously  superin- 
tended,  jumping  about  him  at  the  last  with  a  whisk 
broom  and  a  bit  of  chamois  leather,  "  painting  the 
lily  "  by  every  means  in  his  power. 

"  Your  friend  looks  quite  uncomfortable,"  ob- 
served Miss  Elliott,  as  she  scrutinized  that  mem- 
ber of  the  stiff-backed  line. 

"Not  half  so  much  so  as  he  feels,"  returned 
Pythias.  "  But  I  don't  see  how  even  Mr.  Wayne 
can  find  any  fault  with  him.  It  would  take  a 
magnifying  glass  to  find  a  speck  of  dust  on 
him." 

The  adjutant,  the  official  severity  of  his  counte- 
nance unsoftened  by  Miss  Elliott's  proximity,  ap- 
proached the  first  victim  of  his  inspection. 

The  band  was  playing  a  Sousa  march,  to  whose 
strains  Sally  had  danced  the  last  two-step  with 
Wayne  the  night  before.  She  smiled  at  the  con- 
trast between  the  face  of  her  partner  then  and  the 
expression  he  now  bent  upon  the  luckless  cadet, 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  11 

who  was  even  denied  the  privilege  of  trembling 
beneath  it. 

As  if  a  string  had  been  pulled,  the  rifle  of  the 
competing  plebe  flew  from  one  hand  to  the  other, 
and  with  a  jerk  was  offered  to  the  adjutant. 

Miss  Elliott's  low  laugh  bubbled  forth. 

"  /  should  call  that  snatching,"  she  remarked, 
commenting  on  the  cadet-officer's  mode  of  accepting 
the  firearm.  "  Is  it  military  to  snatch  ?  " 

Pythias  was  too  preoccupied  to  hear  her.  He 
endeavored  to  look  impassive,  but  his  eyes  glis- 
tened. Damon  stood  second  in  the  line.  Wayne 
muttered  something  to  the  first  plebe  as  he  tossed 
back  the  rifle,  then  moved  to  the  next. 

Damon  at  his  approach  became  galvanized  into 
motion.  His  gun  leaped  from  one  hand  to  the 
other  in  approved  style. 

"My,  what  a  Jove-like  frown  Mr.  Wayne  wears!" 
remarked  Sally.  She  was  watching  intently,  in 
sympathy  with  the  interest  of  Pythias.  She  saw 
the  cadet-officer  take  the  rifle,  gaze  down  its  bar- 
rel, and  unfix  the  bayonet.  He  drew  his  white- 
gloved  finger  along  the  socket,  then  presented  it 
under  Damon's  nose  with  threatening  energy  and 
a  frowning  stare  which  the  plebe  received  with  a 
beating  heart,  but  without  the  quiver  of  an  eye- 
lash. 

"  Oh,  it 's  not  clean ! "  cried  the  girl  regret- 
fully. 

"  Miss  Sally,"  said  Pythias,  in  quiet  despera- 


12  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

tion,  "that  gun  has  been  unscrewed  and  each 
separate  part  soaked  in  alcohol  before  it  was 
rubbed." 

"  Well,  it  is  a  shame !  "  she  returned  warmly, 
watching  the  adjutant  with  disapproval  as  he  con- 
tinued down  the  line,  looking  each  competitor  over 
closely,  and  drawing  his  white-gloved  fingers  around 
triggers  and  over  gun  barrels,  displaying  the  result 
to  their  immobile  owners. 

"  You  seem  interested,  Miss  Elliott." 

It  was  Lieutenant  Paxton  who  spoke,  the  young 
cavalry  officer  whose  military  perfections  had  won 
the  encomium  from  Pythias.  The  latter  effaced 
himself  as  Miss  Elliott  turned  to  speak  to  the 
newcomer,  and  as  he  went  he  cogitated.  Mr. 
Wayne's  severity  had  been  so  impartial  Pythias 
did  not  wholly  despair  of  his  friend's  success  after 
all. 

"Yes,  I  am  interested,  Mr.  Paxton,"  replied 
Miss  Elliott.  "  I  was  just  thinking  that  Mr. 
Wayne  needed  some  one  to  recite  Watts's  hymns 
to  him :  *  'T  is  dogs  delight  to  bark  and  bite,'  and 
'  Birds  in  their  little  nests  agree,'  and  such  moral 
stanzas.  He  looks  at  those  poor  cadets  as  if  his 
angry  passions  had  risen  permanently." 

Mr.  Paxton  smiled  with  rather  strained  indiffer- 
ence. He  did  not  like  to  have  Sally  Elliott  inter- 
ested in  Geoffrey  Wayne  even  sufficiently  to  de- 
plore his  manner  ;  but  this,  of  course,  he  did  not 
confess  even  to  himself,  for  not  many  years  had 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  13 

elapsed  since  he  too  wore  the  cadet  gray  under 
these  old  elms. 

"Is  it  a  part  of  an  adjutant's  duty  to  look  so 
savage  ?  "  pursued  the  clear  voice. 

"  A  part  of  his  pleasure,  perhaps,"  returned  her 
companion.  "  Wayne  makes  a  good  adjutant,"  he 
continued,  remarking  the  quizzical  expression  on 
the  girl's  face  as  she  still  regarded  her  friend's  dis- 
charge of  his  official  duty. 

"  I  wish  you  would  come  up  here  in  September, 
when  the  officers  get  their  innings,  Miss  Elliott," 
went  on  the  lieutenant,  as  he  returned  the  salute 
of  a  passing  cadet. 

"  I  'm  sure  I  should  like  to,"  she  answered,  turn- 
ing to  him  frankly.  "  I  doubt  if  there  is  a  month 
in  the  year  when  West  Point  has  not  some  special 
charm." 

"  I  mean  to  ask  your  mother  if  she  won't  pro- 
mise me  to  bring  you  to  one  of  our  hops  this 
fall." 

"  Alas  !  it  would  be  useless.  My  holidays  do  not 
last  so  long." 

"  Is  n't  life  one  perpetual  holiday  for  you  ?  I 
judged  it  was." 

"  Indeed,  no !  "  The  natural  vivacity  of  the 
bright  face  deepened  till  the  blue  eyes  danced.  "  I 
should  not  enjoy  myself  as  I  have  here  if  it  were. 
You  may  be  sure  I  need  all  the  strength,  nervous 
force,  and  resource  that  can  be  stored  up  in  a  vaca- 
tion, for  I  am  a  kindergartner." 


14  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

"  Indeed  ?  I  should  like  to  see  you  at  your 
labors." 

"  Come  by  all  means  and  visit  us,  but  wear  your 
uniform.  Your  brass  buttons  would  enrapture  the 
whole  school.  One  of  the  favorite  songs  of  the 
children  begins :  — 

"  '  A  sword  and  a  gun, 

A  gay  prancing  steed, 
The  brave  soldier  boy, 

What  more  can  he  need ! ' ' 

Geoffrey  Wayne  approaching,  his  labors  over, 
caught  sight  of  this  pair  laughing  together,  and 
allowed  himself  to  be  seized  upon  by  a  couple  of 
maidens  who  had  been  biding  their  time  until  he 
should  be  free. 

"You  see,  Miss  Elliott,"  said  Paxton,  "I'm 
afraid  if  we  don't  get  you  for  an  officers'  hop  this 
fall  we  never  shall  —  that  is,  not  in  my  time.  I 
was  credibly  informed  last  night "  —  the  lieuten- 
ant lowered  his  voice,  and  his  face  became  grave 
and  respectful — "that  you  are  engaged  to  Mr. 
Wayne." 

The  wondering  eyes  regarding  him  remained  no 
less  mischievous. 

"  '  Credibly  informed '  ?  Dear  me,  Mr.  Paxton, 
you  frighten  me.  In  these  dangerously  advanced 
days,  when  nobody  knows  when  she  may  be  hypno- 
tized, or  her  astral  body  be  lured  off  in  an  uncanny 
manner,  one  can  never  tell  what  may  not  have 
happened  in  some  moment  of  unconsciousness." 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  15 

"  I  see  you  don't  wish  to  admit  it,  if  the  re- 
port is  true,"  said  the  lieutenant  stiffly.  "  Forgive 
me." 

Sally  smiled  demurely. 

"  I  have  nothing  to  forgive,  indeed,  and  I  wish 
- 1  do  wish  I  could  come  to  your  hop,  Mr.  Pax- 
ton." 

She  gave  him  an  expressive  gaze,  then  half 
turned  her  head  and  caught  one  of  the  glances 
which  Wayne  was  continuing  to  throw  in  her  direc- 
tion. He  received  her  look  as  a  summons,  and, 
lifting  his  cap,  held  it  off  his  much-brushed  crisp 
hair  in  an  attitude  of  provisional  departure,  while 
the  maidens  chattered  last  words  which  fell  on 
deaf  ears. 

Lieutenant  Paxton,  seeing  the  cadet  impending, 
drifted  away,  and  Sally  smiled  an  acknowledgment 
of  his  adieu,  then  turned  to  meet  Wayne.  As  he 
drew  near  she  puckered  her  white  brow  into  the 
darkest  frown  it  woidd  assume,  and  stared  at  him, 
forcing  her  lips  into  a  severe  line. 

"  What  is  this  ?  "  inquired  the  adjutant,  hold- 
ing out  his  hand  in  spite  of  her  forbidding  atti- 
tude. 

For  answer  she  drew  her  bare  finger  across  his 
shining  buckle,  then  thrust  it  toward  his  face  with 
an  energy  which  surprised  him  into  a  most  unmili- 
tary  start. 

"  There  ;  do  you  think  that 's  pretty  ?  "  she  in- 
quired, dimpling.  "That  is  what  you  have  been 


16  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

doing  for  the  last  twenty  minutes.  Where  are 
those  poor  plebes  to  be  interred  ?  " 

"  I  wish  you  would  n't  talk  shop  to  me,"  said  the 
adjutant  plaintively. 

"  I  do  it  for  your  good.  A  West  Point  training 
makes  young  men  so  muscular  you  can  surely  get 
away  from  me  if  you  don't  like  it." 

"  No,  I  can't  get  away  from  you,"  remarked 
Wayne,  as  if  stating  a  fact  oft  repeated.  "  What 
are  you  going  to  do  next  ?  " 

"  It  is  growing  warm  here,"  said  the  girl,  sti- 
fling a  yawn.  "  I  think  I  will  go  back  to  the 
hotel." 

"  Yes ;  let  us  go  and  sit  on  the  piazza." 

"  Oh !  did  you  think  you  were  coming  with 
me?" 

The  adjutant  regarded  her  with  as  much  indig- 
nation as  was  compatible  with  a  strictly  society 
expression. 

"  Seeing  you  will  be  here  but  a  week  longer,  I 
most  decidedly  am  coming,"  he  returned. 

"  I  think  I  shall  talk  quite  a  little  more  about 
that  squad  of  plebes,"  she  remarked,  as  they  started 
to  walk  toward  the  hedge. 

Eloquent  silence  on  the  part  of  her  companion. 

"  That  second  one  in  the  line — the  stiffest  dummy 
of  them  all  —  is  Damon  to  my  plebe's  Pythias.  His 
gun"- 

"  He  was  the  best  of  the  lot,"  interrupted  the 
adjutant  curtly. 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  17 

"  Did  you  recommend  him  ?  "  asked  Miss  Elliott 
eagerly. 

"Yes." 

She  smiled  upon  him  delightedly,  and  Geoffrey, 
thanking  his  lucky  stars,  drank  in  the  sweetness  of 
her  approval,  enjoying  the  radiance  while  it  lasted, 
and  then  successfully  changing  the  subject. 

A  couple  of  evenings  afterward  there  was  a  con- 
cert in  camp.  The  half-moon  made  mysterious 
the  elm  shadows,  and  into  a  retired  nook  of  which 
he  had  experience  the  adjutant  ushered  his  lady. 

Pretty  Sally  had,  since  Mr.  Paxton's  announce- 
ment, had  more  than  one  bad  quarter  of  an  hour. 
The  conviction  stole  upon  her  at  inconvenient  times 
and  seasons  that  she  was  not  treating  Geoffrey 
well.  The  summer  had  been  so  gay,  so  happy! 
Was  it,  after  all,  going  to  leave  a  bitter  taste  be- 
hind it?  She  had  first  met  Wayne  in  his  year- 
ling camp.  He  had  visited  her  a  number  of  times 
during  his  furlough,  and  now  this  summer,  when 
he  was  at  the  height  of  his  popularity,  it  had  caused 
her  some  secret  elation  to  have  him  the  chief  and 
frankest  admirer  of  her  little  court.  Over  and 
over  again  she  met  her  recent  self-accusation  with 
the  assertion  that  she  had  been  honest  with  him. 
"  In  words,  yes,"  answered  conscience,  "  but  had 
not  vanity  incited  the  actions,  which  speak  louder 
than  words?  " 

Sally  leaned  back  against  her  tree  trunk,  and 
the  band  began  to  play  Schubert's  "  Serenade." 


18  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

The  sighing  melody  waved  and  flowed  through  the 
drooping  elm  branches  with  the  softly  breathing 
summer  wind.  Wayne,  leaning  on  his  elbow  in 
the  grass,  looked  up  at  the  white  curve  of  his  com- 
panion's cheek. 

"You  were  a  good  girl  to  wear  my  favorite 
gown,"  he  said. 

"  A  lot  of  good  it  did,"  she  answered,  in  a  prac- 
tical tone.  "  You  have  put  me  in  a  corner  where 
you  can't  see  it." 

"  I  can  feel  it,"  he  answered  contentedly,  upon 
which  Miss  Elliott  gently  but  firmly  drew  the  thin 
fabric  away  from  his  clinging  fingers. 

"  Hush !  I  want  to  hear  the  music,"  she  said, 
and  the  violins  drowned  her  companion's  smiling 
sigh. 

They  had  not  paused,  on  their  way,  to  inspect 
the  programme,  and  so  when  midway  of  the  even- 
ing the  cornet,  after  a  short  preluding  flourish, 
began  a  sweet  and  sustained  melody,  accompanied 
by  the  other  instruments,  Wayne's  hands  met  in 
brief  applause. 

"  Bravo !  "  he  exclaimed.     "  I  requested  that." 

"  What  is  it?"  asked  Miss  Elliott. 

He  sank  back  again  on  his  elbow,  his  dark  head 
almost  touching  her  arm,  and  looked  up  into  her 
face. 

"  '  You  are  the  darling  of  my  heart,' "  he  said. 

She  was  glad  to  reflect  that  the  moonlight  tends 
to  make  one  look  pale,  as  she  silently  regarded  him. 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  19 

"  Don't  you  know  you  are  the  darling  of  my 
heart  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Pleafce  don't  be  funny,"  she  returned  briskly. 

"  But  don't  you  ?  I  'm  surprised  at  your  neglect 
of  the  English  classics."  Then  in  an  easy  voice 
he  sang  softly  with  the  cornet :  — 

"  '  She  is  the  darling  of  my  heart, 
And  she  lives  in  our  alley.'  " 

"  Oh,  '  Sally  in  our  Alley,'  "  said  Miss  Elliott 
reflectively.  "  I  knew  it  was  familiar." 

"  Sally !  "  Wayne  suddenly  but  with  great  gentle- 
ness imprisoned  the  moon-white  hand  lying  near 
him  on  his  favorite  gown.  "  I  am  going  to  ask 
you  again,  dear." 

"•  Why  do  you  ?  "  came  the  answer,  with  startled 
glibness. 

"  For  several  reasons.  Partly  because  you  are 
going  away  so  soon,  partly  because  you  are  going 
to  cut  to-morrow  night's  hop  to  go  on  Paxton's 
drive,  and  partly  because  it  will  be  the  third  time, 
and  the  third  time  never  fails.  No,  you  need  n't 
try  to  draw  your  hand  away.  I  am  going  to  hold 
it." 

"  Why  ?  "  exclaimed  Miss  Elliott  again,  being 
too  much  bewildered  by  this  reckless  firmness  on 
the  part  of  a  hitherto  respectful  individual  to  do 
more  than  repeat  her  feeble  question. 

"  For  several  reasons,"  returned  Wayne,  also 
repeating  himself.  "  Partly  because  a  West  Point 
training;  makes  a  man  so  muscular  that  I  am  able 


20  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

to,  and  partly  because  whoever  becomes  the  ultimate 
owner  of  it  —  if  he  knew  all,  he  would  surely  feel 
that  I  had  earned  this  much.  Then  beside  " 

"  Oh,  Geoffrey !  "  there  was  a  piteous  little  tremble 
in  the  girl's  voice  as  she  uttered  her  interruption. 
Heart  and  conscience  were  making  a  strange  mixed 
tumult  within  her.  "  I  have  always  been  honest 
with  you,  have  n't  I  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  was  the  dry  answer,  "  I  can  say  unhesi- 
tatingly that  honesty  is  your  forte  ;  but,"  slowly 
kissing  her  hand,  a  feat  which  the  place,  the  music, 
and  her  gentleness  made  easy,  "  I  love  you." 

"  Let  us  be  sensible,"  said  Miss  Elliott  hastily, 
in  a  tone  which  strove  to  imply  all  sorts  of  practical 
and  prosaic  ideas.  "  You  live  such  a  narrow  life 
up  here  you  don't  know  what  you  do  want.  In  a 
few  months  you  will  be  out ;  you  will  see  the  world. 
You  will  meet  other  girls  "  — 

"  Girls  !  "  exclaimed  the  cadet,  with  justifiable 
protest.  "  In  the  name  of  reason,  have  n't  I  met 
girls  enough  ?  " 

"  Well,  then,  no  matter  about  them.  If  you 
would  drop  my  hand  I  could  talk  better." 

"  There  is  room  for  improvement,  I  admit ;  but 
I  need  your  hand  unless  you  are  going  to  give  me 
some  hope  to  work  on  this  winter.  Say  something 
kind  to  me,  Sally,  can't  you  ?  " 

"  This  is  the  merest  infatuation,  Geoffrey,"  re- 
turned Miss  Elliott  decidedly,  "  such  as  a  young 
man  often  feels  for  an  older  woman." 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  21 

"  Pshaw ! "  exclaimed  the  adjutant  in  much 
scorn.  "  Are  you  going  to  ring  in  that  chestnut 
again  ?  .What  are  those  few  hours  by  which  you 
got  a  start  of  me  ?  " 

"  I  had  a  year  and  two  months  the  start  of  you, 
Mr.  Wayne,"  said  the  girl,  as  coolly  as  though  she 
were  not  fearing  to  be  overborne  by  his  will.  "A 
small  matter  perhaps  in  some  cases,  but  in  ours 
an  added  reason  against  —  against  what  you  wish. 
I  have  no  money,"  she  went  on,  "  never  shall  have. 
If  it  were  not  that  I  am  the  happy  possessor  of  an 
aunt  who  likes  to  give  me  an  occasional  treat,  I 
should  n't  be  here  now.  A  second  lieutenant  needs 
a  wife  who  can  help  him." 

"And  a  wife  who  can  love  him  —  love  him 
enough  to  trust  him,"  said  Geoffrey,  trying  to  see 
her  face  clearly  in  the  dim  light.  "  You  don't  care 
for  me  —  yet.  Here,  take  your  hand ;  "  he  dropped 
it  gently  on  her  knee. 

"  I  do  care  for  you,"  she  said. 

"  As  a  sister,  no  doubt.  Another  chestnut, 
Sally." 

"  No,  more  as  a  mother,"  returned  Miss  Elliott, 
with  much  dignity,  and  then  started  at  the  laugh 
which  fell  from  her  companion's  lips,  jarring  upon 
the  music.  "You  are  very  rude  to  laugh,"  she 
said,  with  spirit.  "  My  feeling  for  you  is  mater- 
nal, and  I  care  for  you  very  much." 

"  Awfully  good  of  you,  Sally,  and  you  're  a  jolly 
little  mother  ;  but,  you  see,  I  have  one  already,  — 


22  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

a  perfectly  satisfactory  one,  too.  It 's  something 
else  I  need." 

So  they  parted,  still  agreeing  to  disagree,  when 
Miss  Elliott  left  the  post  and  went  back  to  her 
home  in  Brooklyn  and  the  kindergarten  circle. 

Geoffrey  Wayne,  being  of  determined  stuff,  kept 
his  high  standing  throughout  the  difficult  struggle 
of  that  last  winter,  and  graduating,  was  assigned 
to  the  corps  of  engineers.  His  post  being  within 
easy  reach  of  Brooklyn,  he  managed  occasionally  to 
see  Sally  Elliott,  and  that  young  woman  was  fre- 
quently disconcerted,  at  the  moment  of  patronizing 
the  lieutenant's  prospects,  to  find  that  underneath 
his  equable  demeanor  lurked  a  repressed  fire  which 
still  burned  for  her  alone,  in  spite  of  the  persistent 
and  deliberate  dampening  process  which  had  seemed 
to  her  the  only  proof  of  true  friendship  possible 
from  her  to  him  since  that  evening  when  the  West 
Point  band,  by  special  request,  performed  "  Sally 
in  our  Alley." 

Lieutenant  Paxton,  moreover,  did  not  forget  her 
bright  eyes.  Many  a  Saturday  night  did  he  come 
down  to  New  York  for  the  sake  of  a  Sunday  call 
upon  Miss  Elliott,  and  speedily  discovering  that 
she  was  not  pledged  to  his  rival,  those  visits  in- 
creased in  regularity  and  length  until  Geoffrey 
Wayne  heard  about  them. 

"  You  must  remember,  Sally,"  he  said  quietly 
one  day  to  his  obdurate  lady-love,  "  that  promotion 
comes  faster  in  the  engineers  than  in  the  cavalry." 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  23 

She  flushed  slightly,  meeting  his  straightforward 
look,  and  had  nothing  to  say. 

"  Since  you  are  avowedly  mercenary,  I  want  to 
remind  you  that  it  is  well  you  are  going  to  marry 
me  instead  of  Paxton." 

Her  lip  curled.  "  What  an  invaluable  servant 
of  the  government  you  will  be,"  she  remarked. 
"  It  is  impossible  for  you  to  understand  when  you 
are  beaten." 

Wayne  felt  himself  change  color,  her  tone  was 
so  cold.  "  Then  is  it  to  be  Paxton?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  will  tell  you  when  it  is  to  be  anybody." 

He  studied  the  carpet  awhile  before  he  spoke 
again.  "  I  don't  want  to  quarrel  with  you,"  he 
said,  "  to-day  of  all  days.  You  know  I  wrote  you 
that  my  mother  was  very  ill  ?  Well,  she  is  here  ; 
her  nurse  brought  her.  Will  you  go  to  see  her  ?  " 

"  Indeed  I  will,"  returned  the  girl,  all  sympathy 
at  once. 

Geoffrey  took  advantage  of  her  sudden  cordiality 
to  get  possession  of  both  her  hands.  "  Don't  let 
Paxton  come  to  see  you  so  much,"  he  said,  and  her 
eyes  fell  before  his  strong  gaze.  "  It  is  n't  fair  to 
him." 

He  was  gone  before  she  could  frame  the  crush- 
ing reply  he  deserved ;  and  indeed,  after  meditating 
awhile,  she  went  straight  to  her  desk  and  wrote 
the  cavalry  officer  a  note  of  excuse  for  not  seeing 
him  the  following  Sunday,  when,  as  he  had  in- 
formed her,  he  was  intending  to  come. 


24  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

Then  she  betook  herself  to  the  hospital  to 
visit  Mrs.  Wayne.  It  was  their  first  meeting, 
and  somewhat  embarrassing,  inasmuch  as  she  found 
Geoffrey's  mother  astonishingly  well  posted  about 
her.  The  sick  woman's  attitude  toward  her  was 
that  of  an  affectionate  old  friend,  and  when  the 
girl  left  she  had  promised  to  return  the  next  day. 

But  Sally,  from  Mrs.  Wayne's  first  cordial  greet- 
ing, entertained  a  conviction  that  the  elder  lady's 
manifest  approval  of  her  sprang  from  a  knowledge 
of  her  firmness  with  regard  to  Geoffrey.  She 
expected  that  this  mutual  understanding  would 
remain  a  tacit  one,  and  therefore  was  surprised 
one  day  when  the  invalid  opened  the  subject. 

Sally  had  made  some  deft  change  in  the  suf- 
ferer's pillows,  to  the  increase  of  her  comfort. 

"  I  don't  wonder  Geoffrey  loves  you,  my  dear," 
said  the  sick  woman. 

The  girl  sat  down  beside  the  bed,  silent  under 
the  kindly  scrutiny  of  the  large  eyes. 

"He  says  you  have  not  promised  to  marry 
him." 

"  No,"  returned  Sally,  in  a  rather  choked  voice. 

"  But  why  not  ?     Don't  you  care  for  him  ?  " 

The  girl  shook  her  head  hurriedly.  "  It  is  no 
matter  whether  I  care  for  him,  Mrs.  Wayne.  It 
would  be  the  most  inappropriate,  unwise  thing  for 
Geoffrey."  And  Sally  launched  into  a  detailed 
account  of  her  serious  objections. 

To  her  amazement,  the  sick  woman  appeared  as 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  25 

unmoved  as  her  son  by  these  weighty  arguments. 
When  the  girl  had  finished,  steadied  by  her  own 
logic,  she  met  the  wistful  eyes  still  bent  upon  her. 

"  Dear  child,  these  things  are  trifles  if  you  love 
my  boy  even  enough  to  let  him  love  you ;  and  to 
learn  that  you  do  not  woidd  add  the  last  misery  to 
the  bitterness  of  death.  I  know,  though  I  have 
not  yet  had  courage  to  tell  Geoffrey  so,  that  I  shall 
not  live  long.  I  must  break  it  to  him  soon.  Let 
him  have  this  great  consolation.  Promise  me  that 
you  will  marry  him  before  I  die." 

Sally's  startled  color  rose,  and  her  lips  trembled. 

"  Don't  make  me  feel  that  I  am  leaving  him 
alone,  rejected  by  the  woman  he  loves  so  devotedly, 
and  with  no  one  to  befriend  him  in  the  temptations 
of  life.  Oh,  Sally,  my  daughter !  "  The  voice 
died  away,  the  eyes  half  closed,  and  a  greater  pallor 
overspread  the  pinched  face. 

"  Mrs.  Wayne !  "  exclaimed  the  girl,  terrified, 
starting  up  and  seizing  a  glass  of  water.  "  Yes, 
yes,  I  promise !  " 

A  feeble  pressure  of  the  hand  replied  to  her. 

As  Miss  Elliott  was  leaving  the  hospital  a  few 
minutes  later,  she  encountered  Geoffrey  entering. 

"  Don't  go  up  now !  "  she  ejaculated,  and  he  ex- 
claimed at  the  agitation  in  her  face. 

"  Your  mother  had  a  sinking  spell.  It  fright- 
ened me.  She  is  better,  but  —  perhaps  you  had 
better  not  see  her."  The  girl's  white  face  was 
suddenly  scarlet. 


26  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

"My  dear  little  Sally,"  breathed  the  troubled 
young  man.  "  How  good  you  are.  You  will  never 
know  how  I  appreciate  it." 

Day  succeeded  day,  and  the  vision  of  a  hurried 
marriage  beside  a  deathbed,  at  first  constantly 
before  Miss  Elliott's  mental  vision,  faded  slowly 
away. 

Mrs.  Wayne  grew  strong  enough  to  travel,  and 
returned  to  her  family  in  the  South.  Geoffrey 
was  held  more  and  more  closely  by  the  demands  of 
the  graduate  course  of  study  he  was  taking,  and 
when  he  succeeded  in  making  a  hurried  trip  to 
Brooklyn  his  reception  was  only  the  customary  one. 
Nothing  but  the  light  in  his  eyes  and  a  new  elasti- 
city in  his  manner  betrayed  that  he  knew  of  the 
decisive  interview  between  his  mother  and  Sally, 
for  the  latter's  docility  had  proved  short-lived. 
Mrs.  Wayne  might  outlive  them  all,  she  said  to 
her  mother,  and  she  continued  to  hold  her  lover  at 
the  old  distance. 

Mrs.  Elliott  sighed  resignedly.  Geoffrey,  as  he 
had  taken  pains  to  ascertain,  had  her  good  wishes. 

"  But  how  he  can  be  patient  to  keep  up  such  a 
long  game  of  hide-and-seek  is  beyond  my  compre- 
hension," she  remarked  once  to  her  daughter.  In- 
deed, she  said  as  much  to  Wayne  himself  one  day 
when  they  were  tete-a-tete. 

"  I  'm  biding  my  time,  Mrs.  Elliott,"  he  an- 
swered, smiling.  "  By  autumn  my  affairs  will 
permit  me  to  carry  the  fort  by  storm,  and,  little  as 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  27 

your  daughter  suspects  it  from  my  meekness,  I  am 
going  to  marry  her  and  carry  her  off  in  triumph 
and  show  her  to  my  mother  and  the  rest  at  home." 

"  I  don't  see  how  you  will  succeed,"  returned 
Mrs.  Elliott.  "  Sally  does  n't  seem  to  think  of 
marrying." 

Spring  wore  away  into  summer,  and  the  fervid 
heat  of  a  July  sun  was  reflecting  from  Brooklyn 
pavements  and  parching  its  streets,  before  the 
Elliotts  decided  upon  flitting  to  cooler  regions. 

Whether  Geoffrey  Wayne  remained  away  as  a 
discretionary  measure,  or  whether  business  kept 
him,  Sally  did  not  know,  but  she  had  not  seen  him 
of  late,  and  had  heard  from  him  but  seldom. 

As  she  started  one  day  on  a  modest  shopping 
tour  to  purchase  the  articles  needed  by  her  mother 
and  herself  before  leaving  the  city,  her  thoughts 
returned  to  him  obstinately,  despite  repeated  efforts 
to  divert  and  control  them.  She  pictured  scenes 
on  the  parade  ground,  on  the  piazzas,  and  upon 
the  wooded  walks  and  drives  about  his  post,  in 
which  the  summer  girl  figured  conspicuously. 
There  were  always  such  a  lot  of  them.  No  won- 
der he  preferred  their  flattery  to  her  cavalier  atti- 
tude. It  was  probable  that  he  was  forgetting  her, 
and  that  was  quite  right  —  the  event  she  had 
always  prophesied  and  wished  for. 

When  her  errands  were  done  she  felt  that  she 
could  not  return  home  at  once,  and,  taking  an 
electric  car,  she  rode  for  a  couple  of  hours  before 


28  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

she  considered  her  thoughts  sufficiently  ordered  to 
admit  of  meeting  her  mother  with  her  customary 
insouciant  manner.  As  she  left  the  car,  to  her  sur- 
prise she  caught  sight  of  Wayne  himself.  He  was 
advancing  with  his  familiar  military  air,  and  upon 
his  face  was  a  noticeable  gravity.  She  saw  him  a 
moment  before  he  recognized  her.  and  before  they 
met  she  was  well  fortified  to  make  it  clear  that  the 
field  was  entirely  open  to  the  summer  girl,  and  to 
prove  triumphantly  that  his  devotion  to  herself 
had  never  been  seriously  regarded. 

He  hurried  forward  at  sight  of  her.  "  This  is 
fortunate,  Sally,"  he  said,  and  his  face  showed 
haggard  lines.  "  I  have  a  telegram  calling  me 
home.  My  mother  is  sinking  very  fast." 

The  girl  gave  an  exclamation  of  sympathy. 

"The  telegram  ends,  'Be  married  before  you 
come.'  ' 

Sally's  heart  leaped  and  beat  fast.  "  But  that 
does  n't  hold,"  she  began  feebly,  with  a  dim  idea 
of  letting  him  off. 

"  I  have  been  to  your  house  three  times,  and 
could  not  find  you.  I  must  go  by  the  nine  o'clock 
train  to-night,  so  I  took  it  for  granted  that  you 
would  consent.  I  have  the  license.  What  time 
would  you  prefer  to  have  the  minister  come  ?  " 

Sally  gasped.  Geoffrey  had  never  looked  so 
tall  and  commanding. 

He  consulted  his  watch.  "  It  is  now  four 
o'clock,"  he  said. 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  29 

"  Really,"  she  stammered,  "  really,  there  does  n't 
seem  to  be  much  choice."  Then,  as  Wayne's 
white,  troubled  face  was  waiting,  "  Half  past 
seven,"  she  finished. 

He  left  her,  and  on  the  way  home  it  seemed  to 
her  she  was  in  a  dream.  But  her  mother's  excited 
face  brought  her  to  a  sense  of  the  practical  side  of 
the  situation.  Their  stout  maid-of-all-work  was 
afflicted  with  a  mysterious  malady,  described  by 
herself  as  shortness  of  breath,  and  having  had  an 
attack  that  morning,  Mrs.  Elliott  had  excused  her 
for  the  whole  day. 

Sally  gave  her  mother  a  reassuring  hug. 

"  What  a  mercy  it  is,"  said  the  latter,  half  hys- 
terically, "  that  we  had  asked  your  cousin  Dick  to 
come  to  dinner.  I  was  regretting  it  a  little  while 
ago,  since  it  proves  we  must  be  our  own  cooks ; 
but  if  it  weren't  for  him,  there  wouldn't  be  a 
guest  at  your  wedding,  Sally.  Why,  my  dear,  it 
is  all  the  strangest,  most  unexpected  " 

"  And  the  warmest  time,"  Sally  finished  for  her, 
"  that  we  ever  knew." 

Forthwith  she  plunged  into  the  kitchen  and 
cooked  the  dinner,  with  her  mother's  help. 

Mr.  Richard  Elliott,  who  had  ridden  up  in 
bicycle  knickerbockers  to  aid  his  aunt  in  some  busi- 
ness problem,  was  a  most  amazed  man  to  find  him- 
self a  guest  at  a  wedding. 

"  Don't  worry,  Dick,  you  will  do  very  well,"  said 
Sally  reassuringly.  "  You  shall  give  me  away." 


30  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

When  the  meal  was  over,  the  bride,  whose  con- 
tinuous sang-froid  amazed  her  companions,  donned 
an  apron  over  the  street  dress  she  had  not  had 
time  to  discard,  and  proceeded  to  make  lemonade, 
the  only  available  refreshment  in  the  house. 

"  Oh,  Sally !  how  different  this  is  from  my 
expectations.  Not  a  cake  at  your  wedding !  " 
groaned  Mrs.  Elliott. 

"  Well,"  returned  the  girl,  smiling  demurely  at 
a  lemon,  "  the  question  is,  whether  it  is  better 
to  have  a  wedding  without  a  cake  or  a  cake  with- 
out a  wedding  ?  "  Then,  meeting  her  mother's 
loving,  puzzled  expression,  "  Don't  leave  Dick 
alone  any  longer,  dear,  and  Geoffrey  will  be  com- 
ing now." 

Mrs.  Elliott  obediently  disappeared,  and  when 
Sally's  labors  were  finished  she  followed  her. 
Covered  by  the  voluminous  apron  the  bride  en- 
tered the  parlor,  bearing  a  large  bowl  of  ice  and 
lemonade.  Three  men  started  to  their  feet  as  she 
entered,  and  to  her  horror  she  discovered  that  the 
minister,  a  stranger  to  her,  had  already  arrived. 

Mrs.  Elliott  hesitated  in  her  embarrassment. 
"My — my  daughter,  Mr.  Ford." 

The  minister  advanced  to  the  girl.  "  Is  this  — 
Miss  Sarah  ?  "  he  asked  doubtfully. 

Sally,  being  relieved  by  Geoffrey  of  her  burden, 
shook  hands  with  the  stranger  and  acknowledged 
her  identity. 

She  knew  that  her   cousin   Dick  was  secretly 


A    WEST  POINT    WOOING  31 

impatient  to  return  to  the  little  family  he  had  left 
to  oblige  his  aunt,  so,  looking  about  upon  the  com- 
pany, she  suggested  that,  as  they  were  all  there, 
the  wedding  might  as  well  take  place.  There- 
upon, to  Mrs.  Elliott's  intense  relief,  she  removed 
her  apron,  Geoffrey  returned  to  her  side,  and  they 
were  married. 

After  the  ceremony  the  bride  served  the  lemon- 
ade with  her  own  hands,  then  said  good-by  to  the 
minister  and  her  cousin,  and  ran  upstairs  to  put 
on  her  staying- at-houie  gown.  When  she  came 
down  arrayed  in  some  besprigged  white  stuff, 
Geoffrey  was  waiting  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs. 

"  Will-o'-the-wisp  no  longer,"  he  said  wonder- 
ingly,  as  he  slowly  took  her  in  his  arms  and  kissed 
her  willing  lips.  "  To  think  that  you  belong  to 
me!" 

They  went  out  of  doors  and  sat  upon  the  piazza 
until  it  was  time  for  him  to  go  to  his  train,  scarcely 
speaking  as  they  clung  together,  so  awesome  was 
the  shadow  of  death  which  lay  athwart  the  sun- 
shine of  their  love. 

Geoffrey's  mother  lived  but  a  few  days  after  he 
reached  her,  and  one  week  after  the  funeral  he 
sought  the  seaside  resort  where  Mrs.  Elliott  and 
her  daughter  were  staying. 

He  arrived  one  day  just  before  dinner,  and 
during  the  meal  a  girl  guest  at  a  table  near  the 
one  where  he  and  Sally  were  sitting  called  the 
attention  of  a  friend  to  the  couple. 


32  A    WEST  POINT    WOOING 

"  I  am  sure  that  is  a  bride  and  groom,"  she 
said  confidentially. 

"Why,  no,  it  isn't,"  answered  the  second 
maiden.  "  Have  n't  you  noticed  that  Mrs.  Wayne 
before?  She  has  been  here  as  long  as  we  have. 
I  suppose  that  must  be  her  husband  just  arrived." 

The  first  speaker  sighed.  "  Well,  I  hope  my 
husband  will  look  at  me  just  like  that,"  she 
remarked  appreciatively.  "  His  wife  has  the  hap- 
piest eyes  I  ever  saw,  and  no  wonder." 


PURSUER  OR  PURSUED? 

THEY  were  standing  in  the  museum  on  the 
ground  floor  of  the  old  Academic  Building  at  West 
Point,  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  conversa- 
tion, they  hardly  knew  how,  had  veered  from  shells 
to  sentiment,  from  war  to  love.  There  were 
Colonel  Mackenzie,  a  professor  in  the  academy; 
Lieutenant  Gary,  a  tactical  officer,  and  with  them 
two  ladies,  mother  and  daughter,  guests  at  the 
hotel  for  the  gay  graduation  season.  Colonel 
Mackenzie,  assisted  by  the  lieutenant,  had  been 
showing  the  ladies  about  the  post ;  and,  wandering 
in  through  the  gymnasium  to  the  museum,  the 
professor  paused  beside  a  Gatling  gun  to  empha- 
size his  remarks  upon  a  subject  so  foreign  to  the 
surroundings. 

"  You  may  convince  yourself  of  it  simply  by 
observation,"  he  announced,  the  kind  eyes  under 
his  heavy  brows  twinkling  but  earnest.  "  In  af- 
fairs of  love  it  is  the  woman  who  chooses.  Every 
nice  girl  has  a  lot  of  admirers.  They  gather  about 
her  like  bees  about  a  flower.  She  chooses  one. 
Whiz  !  The  other  bees  go  off  somewhere  else. 
Plenty  of  flowers,  —  eh,  Miss  Bruce  ?  "  asked  the 
colonel  cheerfully,  smiling  at  the  younger  lady, 


34  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED? 

who  caught  his  eye  as  her  own  roved  from  one  to 
another  of  the  warlike  objects  by  which  she  was 
surrounded. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  she  replied,  apparently  quite  un- 
embarrassed by  the  fact  of  listening  to  the  colonel's 
views  in  company  with  the  young  officer  who  stood 
by,  seriously  thoughtful.  "  Flowers  are  especially 
plenty  in  West  Point  just  now." 

"  There  are  plenty  of  bees,  too,"  added  Mrs. 
Bruce,  raising  her  eyeglass  to  inspect  a  hideous 
effigied  warrior  who  stood  near  her,  full  panoplied 
for  the  fray.  "Busy  bees  of  all  sorts.  Not  a 
drone  in  the  hive,  I  suppose,  Mr.  Gary?  " 

The  young  man  stirred  from  his  thoughtful 
attitude.  "  It  is  not  a  healthful  place  for  drones. 
Do  you  care  to  see  the  section-room  upstairs,  Mrs. 
Bruce?" 

"  Oh,  yes ;  where  the  poor  fellows  recite,"  re- 
turned the  lady,  in  that  tone  of  commiseration 
usually  adopted  by  women  who  ever  have  had,  or 
ever  expect  to  have,  a  relative  among  the  cadets. 
Mrs.  Bruce  belonged  to  the  latter  class,  and  was 
full  of  hope  and  fear  concerning  her  only  son. 
"  Yes,  indeed,  I  want  to  see  where  you  teach  the 
young  idea  how  to  shoot." 

"  Oh,  that  is  done  outside  on  the  plain,"  re- 
marked Colonel  Mackenzie,  twinkling  again  at 
Miss  Bruce. 

They  ascended  the  old  stairs  and  entered  one  of 
the  recitation  rooms.  • 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  35 

"  I  've  had  that  young  man  standing  up  here  to 
recite,  with  his  little  fingers  at  the  seams  of  his 
trousers,"  observed  Colonel  Mackenzie,  with  a 
wave  of  his  hand  toward  his  subordinate. 

The  lieutenant  smiled.  "  And  I  dare  say  stood 
up  here  yourself  in  the  same  attitude  for  the  same 
purpose,"  he  remarked. 

"  How  odd ! "  said  Miss  Brace,  regarding  the 
professor's  stout  military  figure  and  gray  hair. 

"  Oh,  yes.  Other  things  in  this  fast  country  of 
ours  are  ever  changing,  but  West  Point  goes  on 
forever  the  same  for  the  best  of  reasons ;  it  could 
not  be  improved  upon,"  said  Colonel  Mackenzie, 
with  devout  sincerity.  "  Come  up  a  little  higher ; 
I  think  you  will  like  to  see  the  drawings." 

When  the  latter  exhibition  had  been  duly  ex- 
amined and  admired,  the  quartette  descended  to  the 
ground  floor  and  came  out  again  into  the  sunshine. 
The  officers  escorted  the  ladies  to  the  hotel,  and 
at  the  door  Mrs.  Bruce  voiced  her  thanks  for  their 
attention.  "  I  am  sure  the  morning  has  been  a 
liberal  education,  Colonel  Mackenzie.  You  have 
not  only  shown  us  the  mechanics  of  light  and 
sound,  but  have  explained  to  us  the  workings  of 
our  own  emotions  as  we  have  never  known  them." 

"Ah,  you  are  laughing  at  me,  madam.  You 
will  not  admit  that  you  are  convinced." 

"  And  mamma  is  not  more  easily  silenced  than 
other  women,"  remarked  Miss  Bruce,  "  so  I  ad- 
vise you  not  to  argue  with  her." 


36  PURSUER    OR  PURSUED* 

"  Never  mind.  Wait  till  I  write  my  novel.  I  '11 
do  it  yet,"  said  Colonel  Mackenzie,  with  a  firm 
nod.  "  The  woman  chooses  the  man,  and  not  the 
man  the  woman.  I  will  show  that  it 's  so." 

"  Why,  of  course,"  returned  Mrs.  Bruce,  half 
laughing.  "  If  a  girl  receives  proposals  from  sev- 
eral men  she  chooses  the  one  who  pleases  her 
best." 

"  That  is  not  what  I  mean,"  was  the  uncom- 
promising reply.  "  A  girl  worth  having  does  not 
receive  proposals  from  several  men." 

"  Wait,  wait,  colonel.  You  do  not  know  what 
sensitive  feelings  you  may  be  trampling  upon." 

"  No,  I  am  entirely  impersonal.  Theories  are 
impersonal,  you  know.  A  girl  worth  having  usu- 
ally receives  a  proposal  from  a  man  because  she 
has  already  chosen  him.  Watch  and  see.  Just 
observe  and  see.  Good-by."  The  colonel's  face 
beamed  with  smiling  good  nature  as  he  lifted  his 
cap. 

Cary  removed  his.  "  Will  you  be  ready  by  half 
past  three  ?  "  he  said  to  the  younger  lady.  "  Your 
daughter,  Mrs.  Bruce,  wishes  to  make  acquaint- 
ance .with  some  of  the  wild  flowers  about  here.  I 
can  at  least  promise  her  some  very  pretty  laurel." 

"  A  nice  way  for  a  young  soldier  to  win  his 
laurels !  "  remarked  the  colonel. 

They  made  their  adieux  once  more,  and  the 
lieutenant  parted  from  his  senior  outside  the 
hedge,  and  took  his  way  down  the  road  past  the 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  37 

Academic  Building.  He  was  hailed  by  a  young 
man  who  had  run  down  the  steps  of  the  rear  en- 
trance to  the  library,  and  now  crossed  the  street. 

"  Well,  I  've  made  up  my  mind,"  announced  the 
newcomer,  as  he  fell  into  step  with  his  friend, 
the  red  stripe  upon  his  army  blue  making  gay 
contrast  to  Gary's  yellow  decoration. 

"  About  what,  Thornton  ?  " 

"  Going  across  the  water." 

"  You  have  decided  to  go  ?  " 

"Yes,  and  I  only  wish  you  could  come  too," 
said  the  artillery  officer,  clapping  a  hand  on  the 
other's  shoulder.  "  What 's  up  ?  I  fancied  you 
were  looking  rather  glum  a  minute  ago." 

"  Oh,  not  at  all ;  I  was  thinking  of  —  of  love. 
That  is  all." 

Thornton  laughed.  "  And  quite  enough,  appar- 
ently," he  said.  There  was  a  strong  friendship 
between  the  two  men.  Gary  had  been  a  third- 
class  man  in  the  academy  when  Thornton  was  as 
dismally  homesick  a  "  plebe "  as  ever  walked, 
thumbs  out,  across  the  plain.  Gary,  contrary  to 
the  usual  custom,  had  befriended  him  on  one  or 
two  occasions  when  the  slight  kindness  had  sunk 
deep  into  the  sore  heart  of  the  seventeen-year-old 
boy,  making  him  the  older  man's  friend  for  life. 
They  happened  to  be  thrown  together  in  this  West 
Point  detail,  and  to  Thornton's  gratification  even 
to  have  quarters  in  the  same  house,  so  that  oppor- 
tunities for  cultivating  their  intimacy  were  plenty. 


38  PURSUER    OR  PURSUED? 

It  was,  however,  no  tribute  to  this  intimacy  that 
Gary  declared  so  frankly  now  the  delicate  subject 
of  his  thought.  He  was  a  man  of  a  logical,  stu- 
dious turn  of  mind,  much  given  to  analysis,  and 
Thornton  knew,  as  his  friend  stared  gravely  before 
him,  that  he  would  have  owned  the  cause  of  his  pre- 
occupation quite  as  willingly  to  any  other  listener. 

"  I  should  advise  yoit  to  think  about  something 
else,  then,"  said  Thornton  lightly,  "something 
more  in  your  line." 

"  It  is  a  very  important  subject,  and  one  that 
ought  to  be  in  my  line,  —  in  the  line  of  all  men," 
returned  Gary  seriously. 

"And  quite  time  for  you,  I  should  say,"  re- 
marked the  other.  "You  will  never  see  thirty 
again." 

"  That  is  what  I  was  thinking  of.  A  man  should 
be  married  by  the  time  he  is  thirty." 

"  Provided  he  has  at  least  one  bar  in  his  shoul- 
der-strap," added  the  second  lieutenant  dolorously, 
"  otherwise  it  is  a  questionable  experiment." 

"  Well,  I  have  the  bar,  and  I  have  made  some 
lucky  investments,"  said  Gary  equably,  "  yet  I  am 
not  married  nor  likely  to  be,  and  at  last  I  under- 
stand why.  I  have  not  been  chosen." 

His  companion  stared  into  the  serious  counte- 
nance. "  What  ?  You  have  not  been  what  ?  " 

"  Chosen.  Colonel  Mackenzie  has  been  pro- 
pounding theories  this  morning  which  are  new  to 
me,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  he  is  right.  He 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED!  39 

says  the  man  does  not  choose  the  woman,  but  vice 
versa." 

"  He  must  have  had  a  peculiar  experience,  then. 
Did  Mrs.  Mackenzie  propose  to  him  ?  " 

Gary  received  the  flippant  question  with  grav- 
ity. "  I  don't  know  ;  but  if  she  did,  you  must 
admit  she  acted  wisely.  Theirs  is  one  of  the 
most  harmonious  homes  I  ever  entered." 

By  this  time  the  two  officers  had  reached  Thorn- 
ton's quarters,  and  ascending  the  steps  they  seated 
themselves  in  chairs  on  the  piazza,  amid  a  bower 
of  honeysuckle  which  clambered  over  the  porch 
and  to  the  second  story  of  the  house. 

"  Is  n't  it  something  new  for  the  professor  to  be 
dabbling  in  the  mysteries  of  the  tender  passion  ?  " 
asked  Thornton,  rocking  back  in  his  chair. 

"  It  is  a  subject  worthy  the  attention  and  best 
thought  of  a  scholarly  mind  like  his.  The  work- 
ing of  the  emotions,  the  action  of  the  positive  and 
negative  currents  in  the  sensibilities  of  men  and 
women  are,  I  dare  say,  discoverable  like  other  sci- 
entific facts.  I  have  great  confidence  in  conclu- 
sions arrived  at  by  a  man  like  Colonel  Mackenzie." 

"All  right,  Gary,"  said  his  friend,  breaking  a 
spray  of  honeysuckle.  "  I  won't  regret  any  longer 
that  you  cannot  go  abroad  with  me.  You  won't 
find  a  place  on  the  footstool  where  such  a  variety 
of  maidens  can  have  an  opportunity  to  look  you 
over  and  examine  your  good  points  as  right  here 
at  the  post.  If  I  come  back  the  last  of  August 


40  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED? 

and  find  you  still  unchosen,  I  shall  set  you  down 
as  a  pretty  bad  lot."  His  companion's  contagious 
chuckle  provoked  Gary  to  a  smile,  as  he  twisted 
his  mustache  and  looked  into  space. 

"  Almost  noon,"  he  said,  suddenly  rising.  "  I 
must  do  some  writing  before  luncheon,  for  I  am 
going  to  walk  with  Miss  Bruce  before  parade." 

"  At  her  invitation,  I  trust.  Don't  tell  me  you 
forgot  the  coyness  becoming  your  sex  and  invited 
her." 

"  I  had  n't  heard  Colonel  Mackenzie's  theories 
then.  But  in  any  case  it  is  entirely  compatible 
with  his  ideas  that  I  should  ask  a  young  lady  to 
go  to  walk  with  me,  —  yes,  even  to  journey  through 
life  with  me,  —  but  she  must  lead  me  up  to  it,  you 
see.  She  must  lead  me  up  to  it,"  —  an  emphatic 
gesture  accompanying  the  repetition. 

"  So  she  shall,  my  dear  fellow,  so  she  shall," 
said  Thornton  soothingly,  repressing  his  smiles  as 
he,  too,  rose,  and  they  passed  into  the  house. 

It  happened  that  he  did  not  sit  beside  his  friend 
at  lunch,  and  the  next  time  they  met  was  in  the 
afternoon  at  parade.  Thornton  strolled  along  the 
path  fronting  the  plain  amid  an  incessant  din  of 
talk  and  laughter.  The  long  row  of  packed  seats 
was  reinforced  at  this  crowded  season  by  myriad 
camp-stools,  and  all  were  filled  by  the  gayly  dressed 
spectators.  He  stopped  now  and  then  to  speak  to 
an  acquaintance,  and  paused  finally  before  Mrs. 
Bruce,  who  sat  upon  a  camp-stool  under  a  majestic 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  41 

elm,  and,  in  order  to  bow  to  Thornton,  looked 
around  the  arm  of  her  daughter,  whom  she  was 
holding  in  her  lap. 

"  Is  that  the  best  you  can  do  ?  "  asked  the  young 
man,  raising  his  hat.  "  I  think  I  can  get  you 
some  sort  of  a  chair." 

"  Oh,  if  you  only  could,  Mr.  Thornton,"  said  the 
young  lady  plaintively.  "  I  know  I  am  awfully 
heavy,  and  mamma  will  make  rne  sit  here." 

"  It  looks  as  if  every  chair  in  the  place  were 
already  in  use,"  said  Mrs.  Bruce,  glancing  down 
the  double  and  triple  lines  of  gay  summer  cos- 
tumes with  the  swaying  rainbow  tints  of  hats  and 
parasols  ;  "  but  if  you  can  get  us  one,  Mr.  Thorn- 
ton, you  will  be  an  angel." 

"  I  will  try,  anyhow  ;  only  I  protest  against  be- 
coming an  angel  in  consequence  of  such  slight 
exertion.  Here  goes.  If  I  fail  in  my  quest,  that 
will  alter  matters.  You  may  know  that  I  have 
perished  of  mortification  and  am  attending  dress 
parade  in  another  sphere." 

With  this  the  young  officer  crossed  the  street 
under  the  heads  of  a  spirited  pair  of  horses  and 
entered  the  yard  of  an  opposite  house.  It  was 
the  home  of  a  professor  whose  wife  happened  to 
be  Thornton's  relative,  and  as  the  latter  was  inti- 
mate in  the  family  he  made  bold  now,  in  their 
absence,  to  run  up  the  steps  and  prefer  his  request 
to  a  servant.  Meanwhile  his  beneficiaries  were 
applauding  his  efforts. 


42  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED* 

"  I  do  like  a  young  man  with  his  wits  about 
him,"  remarked  Mrs.  Bruce  severely.  "  I  should 
have  supposed  Mr.  Gary  would  have  made  his  ap- 
pearance in  time  to  have  been  of  some  use  to  us. 
What  did  he  say  to  you  when  you  parted  this 
afternoon  ?  " 

"  That  he  would  see  me  at  parade,"  returned 
Miss  Bruce  shortly.  She  looked  down  at  the 
stars  of  laurel  which  lay  in  a  large  cluster  on  her 
breast. 

"  And  so  he  will,  no  doubt,  by  the  time  Mr. 
Thornton  gets  us  comfortably  settled,"  replied 
her  mother,  "  and  then  be  too  absent-minded  and 
distrait  to  realize  that  he  has  omitted  anything  he 
ought  to  have  done." 

"  My,  Aunt  Frances !  How  hard  you  are  on 
the  poor  man,"  exclaimed  the  large  fair  young 
woman  who  was  their  next  neighbor.  "I  think 
Mr.  Gary  is  just  splendid.  Fanny  introduced 
him  to  me  this  afternoon  before  they  started  on 
their  walk.  I  only  wish  I  had  arrived  sooner.  I 
am  quite  envious  of  her  because  she  is  so  well 
acquainted  here." 

"You  won't  be  a  stranger  long,  Belle,"  re- 
marked her  cousin,  with  a  little  smile.  "  I  know 
your  energy  in  a  good  cause." 

"  I  know  I  have  n't  any  military  laurels,"  re- 
torted the  fair  girl  discontentedly. 

"  Oh,  take  them.  I  am  heartily  tired  of  hear- 
ing jokes  made  on  these  poor  things,"  and  Miss 


PURSUER    OR   PURSUED?  43 

Bruce  drew  out  the  long  pin  that  confined  the 
laurel,  and  began  fastening  it  at  her  cousin's  belt. 

"  My  dear,  I  won't,"  ejaculated  the  other.  "  I 
was  only  joking ;  I  won't  take  your  flowers." 

"  Yes,  you  will,"  said  Miss  Bruce  firmly.  "  I  am 
not  joking.  I  don't  want  them." 

So  the  laurel  was  adorning  Miss  Laflin,  and 
Miss  Bruce' s  cheeks  were  flushed  from  the  slight 
dispute,  and  the  feeling  which  on  her  side  lay 
behind  it,  when  Lieutenant  Gary  came  walking 
down  the  path.  He  moved  quickly,  and  looked 
anxiously  among  the  crowd  until  his  glance  lighted 
upon  the  party  he  sought.  He  showed  his  hand- 
some teeth  as  he  lifted  his  cap,  and  met  Miss 
Bruce' s  bright  eyes. 

"  How  time  slips  away !  "  he  said.  "I  had  no 
idea  it  was  so  near  the  hour  for  parade,  and  now 
the  seats  are  full.  By  the  way,"  becoming  con- 
scious that  Mrs.  Bruce's  camp-stool  was  carrying 
double,  "  why,  that  is  too  bad.  Were  you  late, 
too  ?  Were  n't  there  chairs  enough  ?  " 

"  Oh  yes,  plenty,"  replied  Miss  Bruce,  "  but  I 
always  prefer  to  sit  in  mamma's  lap  to  anywhere 
else,  and  you  like  to  have  me,  don't  you,  mamma?  " 

"  Well,  you  're  not  exactly  a  transparency,  my 
dear."  Gary  looked  at  them  a  little  perplexed. 
There  was  a  ring  in  the  young  girl's  voice  that  had 
not  been  there  an  hour  ago. 

"  Are  n't  you  going  to  speak  to  me,  Mr.  Gary  ?  " 
asked  Miss  Laflin  with  an  arch  smile. 


44  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED? 

"  Oh,  how  do  you  do  ?  I  did  n't  see  you,"  and 
the  officer  shook  hands  with  the  young  woman 
punctiliously.  He  was  a  soldier  certain  to  perform 
his  duty  when  the  latter  was  made  clear  to  him. 
He  observed  now  that  Miss  Laflin  wore  a  generous 
bunch  of  the  mountain  laurel,  and  looking  quickly 
at  Miss  Bruce,  saw  that  she  was  undecorated  by 
blossom  of  any  kind.  It  displeased  him  that  the 
young  lady  should  have  given  away  the  flowers 
they  gathered  together. 

At  this  moment  a  cadet  hurrying  down  the  path 
toward  barracks  paused  suddenly  and  took  the 
hand  Miss  Bruce  held  out  to  him  with  her  sweetest 
smile. 

"  Pshaw !  Can't  you  get  a  chair  ?  "  he  exclaimed, 
as  he  lifted  his  cap  to  the  ladies. 

"Yes,  in  a  minute,"  she  returned. 

"  I  am  looking  forward  to  to-night." 

«  So  am  I." 

"  Good-by,  —  I  'm  late,"  and  the  young  officer 
strode  on  his  way. 

Gary  smiled.  "  That  is  the  most  important  man 
on  the  post  to-day,"  he  remarked. 

"  Oh,  who  is  it  ?  "  asked  Miss  Laflin. 

"  The  adjutant,  Lenox.  He  has  been  a  good 
adjutant,  too,"  added  Gary,  responding  to  the 
salutes  of  two  cadets  who  caught  his  eye  as  they 
hurried  toward  the  rendezvous. 

"You  are  going  to  the  ball  with  him,  then, 
Fanny,"  said  Miss  Laflin. 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  45 

"  Yes,"  admitted  her  cousin  languidly ;  her  sud- 
den vivacity  seemed  to  have  departed  with  the 
passing  of  the  handsome  cadet  officer. 

"  Ah,  there  comes  that  good  Mr.  Thornton,"  ex- 
claimed Mrs.  Bruce  with  satisfaction.  "  Yes,  he  is 
really  bringing  a  chair." 

Gary  looked  with  interest  to  see  his  friend  spring- 
ing across  the  street,  a  light  chair  in  his  hand. 

"  Good !  "  he  said  heartily,  with  entire  freedom 
from  envy  of  the  gratitude  and  praise  immedi- 
ately showered  upon  Thornton.  "  That  is  first-rate." 

"  Ah !  "  sighed  Mrs.  Bruce,  as  her  daughter  rose 
and  took  possession  of  the  new  seat,  "you  do 
weigh  something,  Fanny." 

"  Then  I  think  you  should  be  ashamed  of  all  the 
fibs  you  told  half  an  hour  ago ;  Mr.  Thornton,  let 
me  introduce  you  to  my  cousin,  Miss  Laflin.  She 
only  arrived  to-day,  and  is  very  unsophisticated  in 
the  ways  of  the  post." 

"  But  I  am  a  very  apt  scholar,  Mr.  Thornton. 
I  am  principally  interested  in  having  my  cousin 
point  out  to  me  the  cadet  who  is  to  be  my  partner 
to-night." 

"  As  well  search  for  a  needle  in  a  haymow,  as 
you  will  see,"  remarked  Miss  Bruce  sententiously. 

"  I  think  he  might  have  called  upon  me  this 
afternoon." 

"  That  is  because  you  do  not  know  the  myriad 
engagements  of  these  fortunate  young  men,"  said 
Thornton. 


46  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED* 

"  Oh,  but  she  is  n't  going  with  a  first-class  man," 
explained  Miss  Bruce. 

"  Not  going  with  a  first-class  man  ? "  inquired 
Miss  Laflin,  agitating  her  pink  parasol  excitedly. 
"  With  whom,  then  ?  " 

"  A  yearling,"  responded  her  cousin  briefly. 

"  Sounds  like  a  calf !  I  won't  go  with  him," 
said  the  other  decidedly. 

"  Yes,  you  will,  and  be  very  glad  to  get  him." 

"  Cut  the  infant  and  go  with  me,  Miss  Laflin," 
suggested  Thornton. 

"  She  can't.  Her  card  is  all  made  out.  You 
ungrateful  creature !  If  you  knew  all  the  trouble 
I  had  having  to  arrange  everything  for  you  at  the 
last  minute !  " 

"  But  you  are  going  with  the  adjutant,"  objected 
Miss  Laflin,  much  aggrieved. 

"  Well,  when  your  yearling  is  a  first-class  man, 
you  come  back  here.  Perhaps  he  will  be  the  adju- 
tant then.  Be  very  sweet  to  him  to-night  and  you 
may  reap  the  reward,"  laughed  Miss  Bruce  mis- 
chievously. "  There  comes  the  band.  Now  watch 
mamma,  Mr.  Thornton ;  you  will  see  her  begin  to 
look  pensive  from  the  moment  the  first  set,  or 
squad,  or  whatever  you  call  it,  appears  at  the  sally- 
port. She  is  always  examining  the  battalion  to 
find  a  cadet  whom  she  fancies  Gerald  will  re- 
semble if  he  gets  into  the  academy.  You  know 
my  brother  is  to  try  this  month.  He  insists,  how- 
ever, that  we  shall  leave  when  he  comes.  He  says 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED*  47 

he  is  not  going  to  let  us  have  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  him  squad-drilled.  It  wouldn't  be  much 
satisfaction  to  mamma.  I  know  exactly  what  she 
would  do.  She  would  go  up  to  the  corporal  of 
Gerald's  squad  and  say,  '  Dear,  good,  kind  Mr. 
Cadet,  please  watch  my  boy,  and  don't  let  him 
work  after  he  grows  pale ! '  They  do  grow  pale 
sometimes.  I  saw  that  last  summer." 

"  Hush,  Fanny,"  said  her  mother.  "  You  make 
me  miserable.  There  come  Mr.  Lenox  and  the 
sergeant-major,"  as  the  cadet  officers  appeared  in 
full  panoply  of  crimson  sashes,  plumed  hats,  shin- 
ing swords,  and  white  gloves. 

Lenox  raised  his  hand,  the  trumpets  sounded 
the  adjutant's  call,  and  then  the  band  burst  into  a 
martial  measure  to  whose  strains  the  battalion 
marched  out  upon  the  plain. 

Lieutenant  Gary  did  not  care  particularly  to 
witness  parade  at  the  best  of  times ;  and  just  now 
he  felt  a  vague  discontent  and  discomfort,  the  cause 
of  which  did  not  appear.  Miss  Bruce  and  Thorn- 
ton were  viewing  the  scene  with  pleasure,  the  latter 
smiling  at  the  young  girl's  comments.  Gary  would 
have  preferred  to  be  the  one  to  receive  these.  It 
did  not  console  him  at  all  that  Miss  Laflin  lifted 
her  blonde  head  from  time  to  time  to  ask  him 
artless  questions.  She  had  a  little  impediment  in 
her  speech,  and  this,  in  connection  with  the  fact 
that  the  brasses  were  blaring  loudly,  and  that  Gary 
had  no  interest  in  what  she  was  saying,  made  it 


48  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED? 

difficult  for  him  to  hear  and  answer  her,  and  irri- 
tated him  more  than  was  reasonable  in  one  whose 
firm  principle  it  was  that  hunger  for  information 
should  always  be  satisfied. 

He  watched  indifferently  the  long  lines  of  cadets 
as  they  executed  the  movements  which  brought 
them  to  "  parade  rest,"  and  tried  to  smile  at  Miss 
Laflin's  strictures  on  the  drum-major's  dress  hat  as 
that  functionary  preceded  the  band  up  and  down 
the  plain.  The  march  they  played  was  the  one 
that  Gary  was  partial  to  in  his  best  estate  of  body 
and  mind ;  but  now,  when  Miss  Laflin  praised  it, 
and  hummed  a  little  as  she  tapped  her  foot  to  the 
marked  rhythm,  he  wished  impatiently  that  the 
U.  S.  M.  A.  Band  would  learn  a  new  tune. 

The  drum-major  convoyed  his  gay  company  back 
to  their  place.  The  trumpets  sounded  the  retreat, 
and  the  sunset  gun  elicited  a  little  shriek  from 
Gary's  fair  neighbor. 

"  You  ought  to  have  told  me  they  were  going  to 
shoot,"  she  said,  casting  up  her  eyes  reproachfully. 

"  Hush !  "  exclaimed  Miss  Bruce,  putting  her 
gloved  hand  in  her  cousin's  lap.  "  Watch  Mr. 
Lenox.  Just  think !  This  is  the  last  time  he 
will  have  to  say,  '  Sir,  the  parade  is  formed.'  After 
to-morrow  he  will  be  nothing  but  an  ordinary  army 
officer." 

"  Miss  Bruce,"  said  Thornton,  "  you  have  been 
goading  me  into  frenzy  for  the  last  fifteen  minutes. 
Beware !  I  hate  Lenox  with  a  fearful  hatred." 


PURSUER    OR   PURSUED?  49 

"  Oh,  how  can  you  hate  anybody  who  walks 
like  that  ?  "  said  Miss  Bruce  pensively,  her  eyes 
fixed  upon  the  immaculate  form  of  the  straight 
cadet  officer,  who,  for  the  moment  of  his  advance 
toward  the  commandant,  was  the  cynosure  of  all 
eyes. 

"  I  suppose,"  grumbled  Thornton,  "  if  I  should 
tell  you  that  I  was  the  adjutant  of  my  class  I 
should  be  of  some  importance." 

Miss  Bruce  did  not  reply  at  once.  She  was 
attentively  watching  the  cadet,  who,  saluting  with 
his  bright  sword,  pronounced  his  stereotyped  phrase 
and  then  marched  to  his  place,  facing  the  bat- 
talions. 

"  Were  you  the  adjutant  ? "  she  asked  then, 
lifting  her  eyes  and  regarding  the  lieutenant  ap- 
provingly. 

"  No ;  but  Gary  was  adjutant  of  his  class,  so 
you  see  he  can  rise  in  your  estimation  at  once." 

Miss  Bruce  looked  back  languidly  toward  the 
hundreds  of  gray  and  white  figures  who  were  exe- 
cuting the  manual  of  arms  with  faultless  precision 
and  unanimity  of  movement. 

"  Oh,  but  that  was  so  long  ago,"  she  said  indif- 
ferently. 

Thornton  thought  this  remark  and  the  tone  of  it 
rather  insolent.  He  cast  a  glance  at  Gary,  who 
was  regarding  Miss  Bruce's  coiffure  with  a  reflect- 
ive and  studious  air,  which  the  young  officer  found 
amusing.  He  bit  his  mustache,  and  smiled. 


50  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED* 

"  I  need  n't  worry  about  Gary,"  he  mused.  "  He 
is,  no  doubt,  trying  to  deduce  from  that  speech 
some  idea  of  Miss  Bruce's  up-bringing,  and  the 
succession  of  motives  which  led  to  her  making 
it." 

Thornton  was  not  far  wrong  in  the  latter  guess. 
Simultaneously  with  the  booming  of  the  sunset 
gun  there  had  come  to  Gary  a  flash  of  comprehen- 
sion of  the  young  lady's  altered  manner  toward 
himself.  He  recalled  the  uncomfortable  position  in 
which  he  had  found  her  and  her  mother  when  he 
put  in  his  tardy  appearance  at  parade,  and  under- 
stood that  in  their  minds  their  discomfort  and  his 
tardiness  were  closely  related.  He  had  made  him- 
self Miss  Bruce's  cavalier  for  the  afternoon,  and 
they  had  both  enjoyed  their  ramble  through  the 
wild  and  lovely  paths  up  the  hill  beyond  the  South 
Gate ;  but  had  his  obligations  not  ceased  when  he 
bade  her  good-by  on  the  hotel  piazza?  Evidently 
she  thought  not.  She  was  offended  with  him,  and, 
Gary  decided,  unjustly  so. 

"  She  is  a  pretty,  spoiled  girl,  who  has  been 
taught  by  the  attention  she  has  received  to  be  ex- 
acting. I  shall  not  aid  in  the  spoiling  process," 
he  declared  mentally. 

Suddenly  Colonel  Mackenzie's  simile  occurred  to 
him.  According  to  theory,  it  was  his  place  now 
to  leave  that  flower  represented  by  Miss  Fanny 
Bruce  and  fly  away  to  another  whose  sweetness 
might  be  for  him.  Just  here  fell  the  young 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED*  51 

woman's  slighting  remark,  which  should  have  left 
the  bee  no  vestige  of  a  doubt  as  to  the  advisability 
of  his  immediate  departure.  Instead  of  deciding 
him  to  leave,  however,  it  raised  in  his  mind  only 
the  query  as  to  the  probable  difference  in  age  be- 
tween Miss  Bruce  and  himself,  and  the  consequent 
calculation  absorbed  him  so  fully  that  when  Miss 
Laflin  exclaimed  upon  the  perfection  of  the  car 
dets'  drill,  and  asked  him  how  long  it  took  to  ac- 
quire such  quickness  and  precision,  he  looked  quite 
through  her  upraised  blue  eyes,  and  answered  that 
he  could  n't  be  sure,  but  he  should  think  about  ten 
years. 

"  Oh,  I  know  you  are  a  perfectly  awful  tease, 
Mr.  Cary,"  returned  the  young  lady,  with  a  twirl 
of  her  pink  parasol.  "  I  shall  never  ask  you  an- 
other question." 

Tin's  was  a  consummation  so  ardently  desired  by 
the  lieutenant  that  it  arrested  his  stammered  apo- 
logies. There  was  a  general  silence  now  also,  as, 
the  graduating  class  advancing  in  line,  the  com- 
mandant addressed  to  them  a  few  words  of  con- 
gratulation, after  which  the  band  again  burst  forth, 
and  the  battalion  began  the  return  to  barracks. 
The  novel  sight  and  sounds  so  delighted  Miss 
Laflin  that  she  uttered  enraptured  little  shrieks. 
Cary  did  not  like  women  whose  outlets  for  emo- 
tion were  little  shrieks. 

Miss  Bruce  turned  to  him  suddenly,  evidently 
for  the  moment  self-forgetful,  and  gave  him  her 


52  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED* 

bright  smile.     "  This  is  the  time  when  I  cannot  sit 
still,"  she  said.     "  I  want  to  follow  them." 

"  It  is  rather  thrilling,"  he  responded,  eager  to 
preserve  that  cordial  expression,  "and  there  is 
always  some  impressiveness  connected  with  the  last 
performance  of  anything." 

"Yes,  I  do  not  like  to  believe  those  first-class 
men  are  wholly  glad  it  is  the  last  time." 

Gary  smiled.  "  Don't  ask  ine  any  questions 
about  it  then,  Miss  Bruce." 

•  "  Were  you,  you  the  adjutant,  glad  never  to 
come  out  here  again  on  this  beautiful  plain,  in 
all  that  crimson  and  gold  and  gray  and  white, 
and  be  admired  by  the  common  herd  of  civil- 
ians?" 

The  lieutenant  laughed.  "  That  is  a  very  tempt- 
ing way  of  putting  it.  You  see,  I  did  not  know 
what  an  interesting  object  I  was  ;  so  you  must  for- 
give me  if  I  say  that  that  June  was  the  happiest 
month  of  my  life." 

"  Oh  dear,  what  bad  taste !  "  Miss  Bruce  turned 
away,  and  Gary  said  to  himself  that  she  had  re- 
membered his  delinquency. 

He  walked  back  to  the  hotel  by  her  mother's 
side,  and  Thornton  followed  with  the  two  girls. 
Mrs.  Bruce  had  evidently  forgotten  her  annoy- 
ance, if  she  ever  felt  any,  and  talked  with  ab- 
sorbed interest  of  her  boy's  chances  for  getting 
into  the-  institution  which  she  both  feared  and  ad- 
mired. 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  53 

The  graduation  ball  that  evening  was,  as  usual, 
a  large  and  gay  affair.  Dancing  was  enjoyed 
under  difficulties,  owing  to  the  number  present, 
but  the  scene  was  a  brilliant  one  to  the  chaperons 
and  officers  who  lined  the  walls  and  watched  the 
promenading  or  whirling  couples. 

"  What  a  lot  of  pretty  girls !  "  said  Mrs.  Bruce 
to  Gary,  who  stood  beside  her. 

"Yes,  and  we  unfortunates  may  only  look  at 
them,"  returned  Gary  with  a  smile,  as  Miss  Bruce, 
in  white  and  gold,  passed  on  the  arm  of  the  tall 
cadet  adjutant.  "  This  is  the  night  when  the 
cadets  are  in  their  glory,  and  the  officers  simply 
of  no  account  at  all." 

"  What  trim,  upright,  attractive  fellows  they 
are,"  said  Mrs.  Bruce,  scanning  the  military  gray 
and  white  figures  admiringly,  and  looking  after  her 
daughter  with  an  agreeable  certainty  that  no  girl 
present  outshone  her. 

"  The  cadets  ?  Yes,"  said  Thornton,  who  stood 
on  her  other  side,  "  and  what  a  nice  place  West 
Point  would  be  without  them !  " 

Mrs.  Bruce  laughed.  "  I  have  noticed  they  get 
in  the  way  of  you  young  officers  sometimes.  Poor 
things !  I  shoidd  not  think  you  would  grudge  them 
the  little  freedom  they  have  at  this  time  of  year. 
Good  evening,  Colonel  Mackenzie,"  as  the  genial 
professor  approached. 

"  How  do  you  do,  Mrs.  Bruce.  Ah,  Gary,  Thorn- 
ton," said  the  colonel,  greeting  the  lieutenants. 


54  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED? 

"  Well,  this  is  paradise  for  these  young  people, 
eh  ?  "  and  the  speaker  cast  his  glance  over  the  rest- 
less mass  of  humanity,  two  individuals  of  which 
were  his  own  daughters. 

"  Yes,  indeed ;  quite  an  object  lesson,  colonel," 
returned  the  lady.  "  Unlimited  flowers,  unlimited 
bees." 

"  Yes ;  oh,  yes,"  said  the  officer,  laughing  at  this 
reference  to  his  impromptu  figure  of  speech ;  "  and 
depend  upon  it,  madam,  there  is  choosing  going 
on." 

Thornton,  who  was  looking  interested  but  mys- 
tified, suddenly  remembered  what  he  had  heard  of 
the  professor's  theories,  and  smiled  at  Gary. 

"  Choosing  going  on,  and  we  're  not  in  it,"  he 
remarked  sotto  voce. 

"  I  should  hope  there  was  very  little  choosing 
taking  place  in  this  company,"  remarked  Mrs. 
Bruce  dryly.  "  These  cadets  are  very  ornamen- 
tal, but,  like  all  ornaments,  a  matter  of  luxury." 

"  Well  said,  Mrs.  Bruce,"  said  Thornton.  "Come 
up  to  one  of  our  hops  next  winter." 

"  She  '11  see  nothing  ornamental  there,  I  suppose 
you  mean,"  said  Gary,  and  just  then  his  eye  was 
caught  by  Miss  Laflin,  who  beamed  upon  him  with 
an  impressive  bow  as  she  approached  with  her 
partner.  She  was  dressed  in  white,  and  looked 
blooming.  Her  plump  arms  and  neck  gleamed  in 
the  gaslight,  and  her  face  was  flushed  from  heat 
and  exertion. 


PURSUER    OR   PURSUED!  55 

"  I  am  going  to  sit  with  you,  Aunt  Frances,  un- 
til the  next  dance,"  she  said,  with  a  parting  bow 
to  her  partner.  "  Oh,  thank  you,  Mr.  Gary,"  as 
the  lieutenant  placed  a  chair  for  her.  "  It  is  so 
warm  and  crowded." 

"  But  I  hope  you  are  enjoying  yourself,"  he  re- 
turned. 

"  Oh,  yes ;  I  dare  say  these  boys  do  not  bore  me 
more  than  I  bore  them." 

It  passed  through  Mr.  Gary's  mind  that  the 
young  lady  must  be  rather  a  heavy-weight  as  a 
dancer,  so  his  next  remark  was  a  trifle  uncan- 
did. 

"  Thornton  and  I  are  looking  on  at  the  gayety 
enviously." 

"  And  some  of  us  girls  are  looking  at  you  covet- 
ously," responded  Miss  Laflin,  using  her  eyes 
effectively. 

"  It  is  very  kind  of  you  to  soothe  our  feelings," 
said  the  lieutenant,  after  a  moment's  pause. 

"  How  gay  it  must  be  here  all  summer.  Three 
hops  a  week,  one  of  the  cadets  told  me.  Surely 
you  dance  at  those  ?  " 

"  Occasionally ;  those  of  us  who  remain  here. 
Many  of  the  officers  spend  their  vacations  else- 
where, you  know." 

"  Ah  ?  Are  you  going  away  this  summer,  Mr. 
Gary?" 

"  No.  I  get  my  vacation  at  another  tune  of 
the  year." 


56  PUR&UER   OR  PURSUED? 

"  Oh,  I  wish  I  could  stay  through  June.  We 
might  do  so  only  that  Gerald  does  n't  wish  his 
mother  to  witness  his  sufferings.  Every  man  I 
have  danced  with  so  far  seems  to  expect  to  have  a 
hand  in  drilling  the  plebes.  I  have  warned  them 
that  a  cousin  of  mine  is  coming,  and  that  they  are 
to  be  gentle  with  him." 

Gary  smiled  significantly.  "  If  you  really  wish 
well  to  your  cousin,  Miss  Laflin,  let  me  advise  you 
not  to  say  much  about  him  to  the  cadets." 

"  Why  ?  "  asked  the  girl  wonderingly. 

"  Oh,  well,  you  '11  be  apt  to  overreach  yourself, 
that  is  all.  Better  not  herald  him  in  any  way." 

"  I  only  told  them  that  he  was  perfectly  lovely, 
and  I  would  n't  have  him  hazed  for  the  world." 

The  officer  laughed  lazily.  "  Poor  fellow,"  he 
remarked,  pulling  his  mustache. 

"  Oh,  dear !  I  hope  I  have  n't  done  any  harm, 
any  mischief,"  raising  her  eyes  appealingly;  but 
Gary  was  not  called  upon  to  answer,  for  at  this 
juncture  Miss  Laflin's  recent  partner  approached 
with  the  cadet  whose  name  stood  next  on  her  card, 
and  she  rose  and  took  the  young  fellow's  offered 
arm. 

"  You  must  be  thinking  up  something  very  com- 
forting to  say  to  me  when  I  come  back,"  she  said 
over  her  fair  shoulder  to  Gary  as  she  moved  away. 

Her  departure  was  a  slight  relief  to  him.  He 
found  himself  once  more  at  liberty  to  search  the 
room  for  the  small,  dark,  well-carried  head,  whose 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  57 

whereabouts  he  had  known  every  moment  up  to 
the  time  of  Miss  Laflin's  appearance.  He  could 
not  find  it  for  some  time,  although  he  looked  care- 
fully about  here  and  there. 

"  I  don't  see  Fanny,"  said  Mrs.  Bruce,  who  had 
been  talking  busily  to  Thornton.  "  Where  is  she, 
Mr.  Gary?  You  are  tall  enough  to  see  over  the 
heads  of  all  these  people." 

He  continued  his  search  avowedly  now.  "  There 
—  there  she  is,  just  going  out  of  doors,"  he  said, 
espying  the  white  and  yellow  gown  as  it  disap- 
peared through  the  open  doorway,  escorted  by  a 
cadet  captain. 

"The  foolish  child.  She  is  very  imprudent. 
It  is  not  at  all  warm  to-night  out  of  doors." 

It  certainly  was,  indoors.  To  Gary  it  seemed 
that  the  temperature  had  risen  suddenly  thirty 
degrees.  He  was  astounded  to  find  that  it  had 
made  his  heart  leap  to  see  Miss  Bruce  leaving  the 
hall ;  and  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  he  was 
glowing,  uncomfortable,  annoyed,  displeased. 

"  Of  all  the  astonishing  things  I  ever  knew  in  my 
life  this  is  the  most  astonishing,"  he  said  to  him- 
self, frowning,  and  furtively  laying  his  hand  upon 
his  heart  to  inspect  its  unusual  pumping.  "  What 
does  this  mean  ?  What  is  Miss  Bruce  to  me  ?  " 
he  inquired,  pursuing  his  investigations.  He  had 
met  the  girl  last  summer,  and  had  come  to  know 
her  rather  well,  for  she  was  then  a  guest  in  Colonel 
Mackenzie's  family,  where  Gary  was  a  favorite 


58  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED? 

visitor.  He  knew  her  to  be  pretty,  and  graceful, 
and  spirited,  but  he  had  not  been  conscious  of 
more  admiration  for  her  than  he  had  felt  for  a 
dozen  other  girls  he  had  known.  She  had  been 
more  gracious  to  him  in  those  days  than  at  any 
time  this  year.  When  had  this  amazing  change 
in  himself  begun  ? 

He  looked  around  the  hall.  He  saw  several 
couples  leave  the  room  to  breathe  the  coolness  of 
the  summer  night,  but  no  flutter  of  another  gauzy 
skirt  caused  a  responsive  flutter  within  him. 

"  Well,  now,  this  is  very  interesting,"  he  mused. 
"  I  am  positively  uncomfortable  because  Miss 
Bruce  is  out  there  on  the  walk.  When  she  comes 
back,  not  until,  this  party  will  seem  to  have  some 
point  and  brilliancy.  I  feel  murderously  inclined 
toward  Beach  (her  partner).  I  want  more  than 
I  ever  wanted  anything  to  go  out  of  that  door  and 
follow  them ;  to  know  if  possible  what  they  are 
saying  to  one  another.  Well,  have  I  come  to 
this!" 

He  evidently  had  come  to  some  wholly  novel 
state  of  mind,  for  at  this  moment  Miss  Bruce  re- 
appeared with  her  cavalier  in  the  open  door,  and 
again  Gary  experienced  that  strange  tightening  in 
the  chest,  followed  by  a  sensation  as  though  his 
heart  were  trying  to  get  out. 

"  This  is  marvelous,"  he  said  to  himself,  and,  an 
idea  suddenly  striking  him,  the  color  rose  in  his 
face.  "It  can  mean  only  one  thing  if  Colonel 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  59 

Mackenzie  is  right.  How  wonderful  that  would 
be.  What  can  she  see  in  an  old  back  number  like 
me?" 

It  was  toward  midnight  when  Gary  had  his  first 
opportunity  of  the  evening  to  speak  to  Miss  Bruce. 
There  were  no  signs  of  fatigue  in  her  bright  eyes 
as  she  approached  her  mother  and  consequently 
himself.  Lenox,  her  escort  of  the  evening,  was 
beside  her  in  that  state  of  evident  satisfaction 
which  befits  a  young  man  in  the  last  stages  of  hon- 
orable cadetship,  especially  when  he  has  secured 
the  partner  he  most  desires  for  his  graduation  ball. 

"  Mr.  Lenox,  I  do  not  wish  my  daughter  to 
walk  out  in  the  air  again  to-night,"  said  Mrs. 
Bruce  emphatically,  and  Cary  took  advantage  of 
the  young  fellow's  reply  to  speak  to  the  girl  at 
whom  he  looked  with  new  eyes. 

"  This  is  proving  a  rather  exasperating  evening 
to  me,  Miss  Bruce,"  he  said  in  a  low  tone. 

She  raised  her  gloved  hand  to  the  back  of  her 
head  as  if  to  adjust  her  hair,  a  movement  common 
to  many  women  in  moments  of  self -consciousness ; 
but  her  tone  was  wholly  indifferent  as  she  spoke: 

"  You  do  not  miss  much  in  not  dancing  to-night, 
really.  It  is  too  crowded." 

"  I  wonder  if  you  will  not  save  one  dance  for 
me  at  the  next  hop." 

"  We  may  not  be  here.  Our  movements  are 
quite  undecided."  She  lifted  her  fan  of  white 
feathers.  Last  night  Cary  could  have  taken  it 


60  PURSUER   OR  PURSUE Df 

from  her  hand  and  fanned  her ;  but  now  the  com- 
monplace action  took  the  dimensions  of  a  liberty 
in  his  eyes.  The  big  cavalry  officer  was  having 
unprecedented  difficulty  in  concealing  his  own 
white  feather. 

"  But  if  you  are  here,"  he  persisted,  "  may  I 
dance  with  you  ?  " 

She  met  the  gray  eyes  that  gazed  at  her  with 
such  disproportionate  earnestness.  "  I  have  so 
little  to  do  with  it,"  she  said  coolly.  "A  girl 
really  does  n't  know  whom  she  will  find  on  her 
card,  you  know." 

It  was  a  rebuff,  of  course  ;  but  it  was  the  mem- 
ory, tenaciously  clung  to,  of  his  companion's  plea- 
sant friendliness  during  their  walk  in  the  afternoon 
that  pressed  him  forward  now.  "  Do  you  not  wish 
to  dance  with  me  ? "  he  asked  seriously,  and  the 
unexpected  bluntness  brought  a  tide  of  color  to 
Miss  Bruce's  face. 

"  What  a  question ! "  she  said  with  an  uneasy 
laugh.  "  What  do  you  expect  a  girl  to  answer  to 
that?" 

"  Why,  I  should  like  it  very  much  if  you  would 
tell  me  the  truth." 

"  I  have  been  too  well  brought  up  for  it  to  be 
possible  for  me  to  take  either  horn  of  the  dilemma 
you  so  kindly  offer  me.  Yes,  Mr.  Lenox,  I  am 
ready,"  and  with  a  little  bow,  her  face  looking 
more  brilliant  than  when  she  had  approached,  she 
moved  away. 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  61 

Gary  stood  rather  rigidly  watching  her  and  her 
partner  as  they  drifted  into  the  waltz  which  had  be- 
gun. The  adjutant  of  that  particular  First  class  of 
the  United  States  Military  Academy  was  an  espe- 
cially good  dancer,  and  the  couple  wound  their  way 
through  the  throng  with  the  suppleness  of  ribbon. 

It  would  imply  a  long  stride  toward  the  Marcus 
Aurelian  standard  for  any  young  bachelor  officer  at 
West  Point  to  lay  his  hand  on  his  heart  and  aver 
that  he  felt  complete  cordiality  toward  a  cadet  of  the 
First  class ;  but  John  Egbert  Gary  of  the  -  — th 
cavalry  was  unconsciously  a  promising  disciple  of 
that  uncompromising  philosopher.  He  looked  now 
quite  through  the  slender-waisted,  gray-coated  figure 
of  the  adjutant  and  saw  only  the  young  woman  the 
latter  was  guiding  so  cleverly.  Gary  was  greatly 
stirred,  and  his  instinctive  effort  to  analyze  this 
case  was  futile.  His  wounded  self-love  should 
have  been  soothed  by  the  looks  which  Miss  Laflin 
did  not  fail  to  cast  upon  him  each  time  she  and 
one  of  her  yearlings  passed  in  his  neighborhood. 

"  She  looks  like  a  good-natured  girl,"  he  thought 
vaguely,  as  she  paused  once  more  near  her  aunt, 
and  her  partner  left  her  with  a  bow. 

"  It  is  so  warm,"  she  remarked  to  the  lieutenant ; 
"but  I  believe  I  have  said  that  before  once  or 
twice." 

"  It  becomes  truer  with  each  dance,  I  suppose," 
returned  Gary.  "  Shan't  I  fan  you  ?  "  taking  her 
fan. 


62  PURSUER    OR  PURSUED? 

"  I  wish  you  would  take  me  out-doors,"  she  said 
with  her  usual  directness  ;  "  I  am  stifled." 

Gary  hesitated  ungallantly.  "Your  aunt  will 
object.  She " 

"  I  do  not  propose  to  ask  her,"  returned  the  girl 
decidedly,  and  the  lieutenant  had  no  alternative  but 
to  offer  his  arm.  They  made  their  way  with  diffi- 
culty to  the  door  and  descended  the  short  flight 
of  steps  to  the  broad  stone  flagging.  Miss  Laflin 
breathed  a  deep  sigh  of  relief  and  satisfaction  as 
they  sauntered  southward  under  the  great  elms. 

"  This  is  ever  so  much  nicer  than  being  there  in 
that  crush.  I  hope  you  did  not  dislike  leaving. 
I  wonder  that  you  have  been  willing  to  stand 
about  so  long." 

"  I  like  to  watch  dancing,"  said  Gary  simply. 
He  thought  he  was  telling  the  truth ;  but  the  taste 
was  certainly  a  suddenly  acquired  one.  "Your 
cousin  seems  to  be  enjoying  herself  exceedingly." 

"  Oh,  yes,  it  is  different  with  Fanny.  She  has 
a  great  many  friends  here.  It  is  not  easy  for  me 
to  make  friends.  I  am  very  peculiar  about  that. 
I  take  dislikes  more  often  than  I  take  fancies  to 
people." 

"  Indeed  ?  I  should  n't  have  thought  it,"  replied 
her  companion,  since  some  comment  on  this  calam- 
itous state  of  things  was  evidently  expected. 

"  Why  should  n't  you  have  thought  it  ?  "  asked 
the  girl,  charmed  to  have  given  a  personal  turn  to 
the  conversation. 


PURSUER   OR   PURSUED*  63 

Gary  sighed  patiently.  "  Because  if  I  were  guess- 
ing I  should  guess  you  to  be  so  good-tempered  !  " 

Miss  Laflin  gave  a  delighted  little  laugh. 
"  Well,  so  I  am ;  but  not  sufficiently  so  to  like 
everybody,  and  if  I  do  not  like  a  person  I  cannot 
help  showing  it."  She  leaned  a  little  more  heavily 
on  her  companion's  arm.  "Don't  you  think  it  is 
libelous  to  say  that  women  are  always  f ascinated  by 
brass  buttons,  Mr.  Gary  ?  " 

"  Quite  so,"  returned  the  lieutenant  passively. 
"  There  goes  the  music,  Miss  Laflin,"  and  he  stood 
still,  for  they  had  passed  the  hospital ;  "  shall  I 
take  you  back  ?  " 

"  No,  indeed.     I  am  but  just  getting  cool." 

"  But  I  can  see  your  partner  in  my  mind's  eye, 
gazing  and  rushing  frantically  in  all  directions." 

"  What  does  he  care  ?  He  does  not  know  me, 
nor  I  him,"  said  the  girl  decidedly.  "  I  have  re- 
fused to  dance  the  german." 

"  Do  you  want  me  murdered  over  there  in  camp 
some  night  this  summer  by  a  pack  of  irate  year- 
lings?" 

But  Miss  Laflin  was  a  large  body  who  was  not 
to  be  moved  as  yet  hi  the  direction  of  Mess  Hall. 
"  Indeed,  I  would  do  a  good  deal  to  keep  you  from 
being  murdered,  Lieutenant  Gary,"  she  replied  in 
an  unmistakably  sentimental  tone,  "  but  don't  ask 
me  to  go  in  yet.  This  is  so  perfectly  charming." 

Gary  moved  on  perforce,  and  his  thoughts,  which 
had  been  lingering  with  Miss  Bruce,  became  fixed 


64  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED* 

with  decided  sensations  of  chafing  and  uneasiness 
upon  his  fair  companion,  who  continued  with  com- 
placent satisfaction :  — 

"  Are  you  fond  of  walking  ?  " 

"  Very.  It  is  my  favorite  pastime  here,"  was 
the  unguarded  response. 

"  Oh,  I  am  so  glad ;  I  just  love  it,"  said  Miss 
Laflin  effusively.  "  You  must  show  me  some  of 
the  beauties  of  the  place.  Take  me  to-morrow, 
won't  you,  to  find  that  pretty  laurel  such  as  my 
cousin  had;  and  then  Flirtation  Walk.  Why," 
looking  up  innocently  in  his  face,  "  do  they  call  it 
that,  Mr.  Gary?" 

"  Good-night,"  exclaimed  a  voice,  and  a  figure 
walked  swiftly  past  them. 

"  Oh,  that  is  Thornton,"  said  Gary  hastily. 
"  He  is  going  home,  and  I  must  not  be  long  after 
him.  Our  quarters  are  adjoining  and  I  —  I  don't 
like  to  disturb  him  after  he  gets  settled  for  the 
night." 

"  But  what  has  that  to  do  with  our  walk  ? " 
asked  Miss  Laflin  plaintively. 

"  Nothing,  of  course.  I  —  I  shall  be  pleased. 
What  time  would  suit  you  to  go  ?  " 

It  was  half  an  hour  later  that  Gary  ran  up  the 
stairs  leading  to  his  rooms.  Thornton  called  to 
him  from  the  darkness  of  an  opposite  apartment, 
"  Got  through  star-gazing  ?  " 

"Yes,"  came  the  answer  in  a  depressed  tone. 
"  I  might  not  be,  only  there  are  no  stars  to  gaze  at. 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  65 

It  is  raining.  What  was  your  hurry  when  you 
passed  me  out  there  ?  " 

"  Thought  you  might  be  getting  chosen  ;  so,  as 
Uncle  Remus  hath  it,  I  '  split  cle  wind.'  ' 

Gary  came  in  and  threw  himself  on  the  foot  of 
his  friend's  bed.  "  I  shall  never  be  chosen,  I  'm 
afraid,"  he  said,  with  frank  downheartedness. 
"  Women  do  not  like  me.  It  is  perfectly  evi- 
dent." 

"  Oh,  go  'way,  old  fellow.  I  need  glasses,  and 
you  don't ;  but  I  can  see  more  with  my  eyes  than 
you  with  yours.  You  should  have  seen  the  rear 
elevation  of  Miss  Laflin's  head  as  she  gazed  up 
into  your  face  a  little  while  ago." 

"  That  girl,"  said  Gary,  straightening  up,  and 
speaking  in  a  lowered,  confidential  tone,  "that 
girl,  Thornton,  is  n't  right  in  her  head." 

The  second  lieutenant  burst  into  a  loud  laugh. 

"  I  mean  it  for  a  fact,"  averred  the  other. 

Thornton  rolled  over  in  bed. 

"  Hold  your  noise.  You  '11  disturb  the  people 
downstairs.  There  's  nothing  to  laugh  at,  I  tell 
you.  She  is  off.  I  am  sure  of  it." 

"  I  know.  I  understand.  She  has  been  making 
a  dead  set  at  you  all  the  evening.  Just  what  you 
have  been  yearning  and  panting  and  sighing  for 
for  thirty  years,  and  now  look  at  your  black  in- 
gratitude !  " 

"  You  don't  understand,"  returned  Gary  testily, 
"  and,  what  is  more,  you  have  n't  the  ability  to." 


66  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED? 

"  No,  I  don't  believe  I  have,"  gurgled  Thornton, 
as  his  friend  closed  the  door  behind  him  with  an 
expenditure  of  nervous  energy  unbefitting  a  phi- 
losopher. 

Gary  found  his  thoughts  unpleasant  companions 
that  night,  and  he  awoke  next  morning  in  a  dis- 
satisfied frame  of  mind.  He  attended  the  gradu- 
ating exercises,  and  looked  on  at  the  whole  in  a 
gloomy  and  cynical  spirit.  It  was  nearly  ten  years 
since  he  had  sat  among  his  class  under  similar  cir- 
cumstances. How  full  of  hope  and  happiness  he 
had  been  then !  It  seemed  to  him  now  that  he 
had  been  getting  ready  to  live  ever  since.  It  was 
of  no  use  to  harbor  false  and  vague  expectations 
any  longer. 

"  This  is  life,"  he  thought.  "  I  am  living  now 
as  truly  as  I  ever  shall,"  and  he  found  himself 
gazing  at  Miss  Bruce's  handsome  and  expressive 
face,  lighted  with  interest  in  the  ceremonies  that 
were  taking  place. 

He  could  not  regard  her,  however,  without  run- 
ning the  risk  of  appearing  to  gaze  at  Miss  Lafliu, 
who  was  seated  beside  her.  That  young  woman, 
perfectly  dressed,  even  distinguished  in  her  appear- 
ance, gave  him  a  shudder  by  the  eagerness  of  her 
recognition.  He  had  the  walk  with  her  in  prospect 
for  the  afternoon.  He  even  scowled  as  his  eye  fell 
upon  Colonel  Mackenzie's  benevolent  countenance. 
He  wished  he  had  never  heard  that  gentleman's 
precious  theories. 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  67 

Miss  Laflin  was  not  to  be  envied  her  cavalier 
that  day,  yet  as  Gary  was  habitually  silent  and 
grave  she  did  not  apparently  feel  any  lack.  The 
necessity  for  exertion  in  the  locality  he  had  ma- 
liciously chosen  for  their  ramble  absorbed  her 
energies,  and  as  they  returned,  rich  in  flowery 
spoils,  the  lieutenant  became  less  taciturn  in  pro- 
portion to  their  approach  to  the  hotel.  She  parted 
from  him  in  undiminished  spirits,  but,  he  devoutly 
believed,  so  fatigued  that  she  would  not  propose 
another  walk  among  the  highlands.  When  she 
had  disappeared  within  the  house  Gary  did  not 
leave  the  hotel  at  once.  He  knew  it  to  be  an  hour 
when  the  piazzas  were  not  popular,  and  at  all  times 
of  day  he  liked  the  view  up  the  river,  and  never 
wearied  of  watching  the  varied  craft  that  plied 
up  and  down.  He  strode  toward  the  back  of  the 
building,  straight  to  the  piazza  rail.  He  knew 
those  hills  and  their  varying  expressions  as  he 
knew  his  friends'  faces.  They  were  more  soothing 
to  him  now  than  any  friend's  face  could  be. 

A  little  motion  made  him  turn,  and  he  saw  that 
there  was  a  woman  sitting  in  the  corner  of  the 
piazza.  Her  head  and  shoulders  were  concealed  by 
a  black  and  white  parasol  which  Gary  knew  well. 
He  had  held  it  over  her  on  several  occasions.  He 
denounced  the  fate  which  had  made  him  choose  to 
come  to  the  spot  now,  and  determined  to  withdraw 
without  disturbing  the  solitary  figure.  Turning  on 
his  heel,  he  took  two  of  his  long  steps,  but  was 


68  PURSUER   OR  PURSUE Df 

arrested  at  the  third  because  the  girl  under  the 
parasol  said,  "  Oh." 

"  Good  afternoon,  Miss  Bruce."  Gary  lifted 
his  cap  and  paused  because  she  met  his  eyes  and 
looked  glad  to  see  him.  "  Rather  sunny  for  read- 
ing, is  n't  it  ?  " 

"  Not  under  my  parasol,  and  I  do  dislike  to  waste 
time  in  the  house  in  this  weather,  don't  you  ?  " 

"  Yes.  You  could  find  more  shade  on  Trophy 
Point." 

"  I  suppose  so." 

"And  more  cadets,"  continued  the  lieutenant 
rather  uncivilly. 

Still  she  smiled  upon  him.  "  My  friends  are  all 
gone,  you  know,"  she  said  sweetly.  "What  a 
good  time  they  are  probably  having  at  this  mo- 
ment !  " 

"  Did  they  leave  you  a  string  of  bell-buttons  ?  " 
asked  Gary. 

Miss  Bruce  waxed  more  gracious  as  his  irritation 
became  more  manifest.  It  was  something  new  to 
see  her  theorizing,  abstracted  friend  show  such 
human  weakness. 

"  Might  you  not  feel  better  -  natured  sitting 
down  ?  "  she  asked. 

She  knew  the  lieutenant  had  just  returned  from 
a  walk  with  her  cousin,  and  was  not  displeased 
that  he  did  not  appear  to  have  enjoyed  himself. 
Miss  Laflin's  intemperate  expressions  of  admiration 
for  him  in  the  privacy  of  the  girls1  own  apartment 


PURSUER    OR   PURSUED?  69 

had  produced  their  effect  on  Miss  Bruce.  They 
had  made  her  resentful,  indignant  to  the  core, 
coming  as  they  did  at  a  moment  when  she  was  suf- 
fering from  remorse  at  her  own  ill-treatment  of 
him. 

"  You  should  not  speak  slightingly  of  those  young 
men,"  she  said  gently,  as  Cary  rather  reluctantly 
approached  and  took  a  chair.  "You  were  their 
favorite  instructor." 

M I  did  n't  know  a  cadet  ever  had  a  favorite 
tactical  officer.  We  had  none  in  my  time,"  re- 
plied Cary,  with  a  short  laugh. 

"  What  an  evil-disposed  class  yours  must  have 
been,"  remarked  the  young  lady,  twirling  her  par- 
asol as  it  rested  on  her  shoulder. 

"  But  that  was  so  long  ago.  Human  nature  has 
improved  since  then,  no  doubt." 

Miss  Bruce  colored  at  this  proof  that  her  thrust 
was  not  forgotten.  Cary  swung  an  arm  over  the 
back  of  his  chair  and  altered  his  position  so  that 
his  eyes  looked  squarely  into  hers. 

"  Miss  Fanny,"  he  began,  with  determined  seri- 
ousness, "  I  have  been  wanting  to  ask  you  what 
you  think  of  the  truth  of  those  theories  that 
Colonel  Mackenzie  propounded  to  us  yesterday 
morning." 

The  girl  had  nearly  asked,  "  What  theories  ?  " 
but  she  perceived  in  a  flash  that  not  enough  time 
would  be  gained  to  compensate  her  for  the  silliness 
involved  in  the  obvious  evasion. 


70  PURSUER   OR  PURSUED? 

"  They  were  quite  interesting,"  she  returned, 
after  an  imperceptible  pause. 

"  What  is  your  opinion  as  to  their  truth  ?  I 
suppose  you  will  have  no  objection  to  telling  me  ?  " 

"  Oh,  none  at  all,"  she  answered,  hanging  out  a 
gay  crimson  flag  in  the  fairness  of  her  cheeks,  but 
speaking  airily.  "  I  have  an  idea  that  Colonel 
Mackenzie  is  quite  right." 

The  lieutenant  looked  scrutinizingly  into  the 
piquant  face. 

"  You  then,  —  pardon  me  for  introducing  per- 
sonalities, —  you,  when  you  see  the  man  whom 
you  believe  to  be  your  mate,  who  you  believe  can 
make  you  happy,  will  choose  him?  How  will  he 
know  that  you  have  chosen  him  ?  " 

"  Oh,  he  can't  fail  to  know  it,"  declared  the 
other,  with  sprightly  vivacity.  "  I  should  —  why, 
I  should  show  it,  of  course.  I  should  take  pains 
to  let  him  know  it." 

The  eager  expression  in  Gary's  eyes  faded. 
"  Of  course  —  naturally,"  he  assented,  in  a  low 
tone. 

There  was  a  pause,  during  which  they  both 
looked  off  to  the  river,  where  a  steamer  was  labo- 
riously tugging  twenty-four  barges  in  its  wake. 

"  There  is  a  screw  loose  somewhere,"  continued 
the  lieutenant,  his  eyes  on  one  of  the  barges, 
where  a  woman  was  hanging  out  clothes  to  dry. 
"  I  don't  know  whether  it  is  with  the  professor's 
theory,  or  whether  it  is  with  me.  The  fact  is, 


PURSUER   OR  PURSUED?  71 

Miss  Bruce,  —  I  don't  mention  it  to  annoy  you, 
and  I  hope  it  will  not,  but  it  is  abstractly  interest- 
ing under  the  circumstances,"  —  Gary  looked  back 
into  her  face,  —  "I  am  in  love  with  you." 

His  companion  flushed  more  brightly,  and 
turned  her  head  from  him.  "  Of  course  it  is  n't 
the  least  in  the  world  your  fault.  You  have  never 
been  more  than  civil  to  me,"  he  added  hastily. 

The  twirling  parasol  revolved  until  it  cut  off 
from  him  the  view  of  her  rosy  countenance.  Gary 
reproached  himself  tardily  for  embarrassing  her. 

"  Oh,  please  look  at  me,  Miss  Fanny,"  he 
begged.  "  I  am  not  regretting  it,  you  know.  I 
would  rather  love  you  hopelessly  than  not  at  all. 
I "  —  He  laid  his  hand  on  the  obstructing  parasol, 
when  a  heavy  step  advancing  on  the  piazza  made 
him  turn  impatiently. 

Colonel  Mackenzie  appeared  around  the  corner 
of  the  hotel. 

"  Well,  young  folks,"  he  cried  cheerily,  "  trying 
a  sun-bath?" 

Of  course  it  was  Miss  Bruce  who  replied,  restor- 
ing her  parasol  to  its  position  behind  her  head. 

"  Come  and  sit  down,  colonel,"  she  said  cor- 
dially, although  her  voice  was  not  quite  steady. 
"  Mr.  Gary  and  I  have  been  talking  metaphysics, 
and  we  need  you." 

Gary  rose,  and,  indicating  his  chair  to  the  pro- 
fessor, seated  himself  on  the  piazza  rail  opposite, 
his  face  showing  traces  of  excitement. 


72  PURSUER    OR   PURSUED? 

"  Been  having  a  rather  heated  argument,  I  per- 
ceive," remarked  the  colonel,  taking  the  chair  and 
mopping  his  brow  with  his  handkerchief. 

"  Not  quarreling  ;  oh,  no,"  returned  Miss  Bruce. 
"  We  quite  agree.  We  were  speaking  of  the  opin- 
ions you  asserted  yesterday  morning,  and  we  not 
only  agree  with  each  other,  but  with  you." 

"You  did  agree  with  him,  you  mean,"  said 
Gary,  gazing  at  her  steadily.  "  What  I  told  you 
has  shaken  you." 

The  color  ebbed  slowly  away  from  Miss  Bruce's 
face,  and  she  nodded.  "  Yes,  it  has  shaken  me  a 
little,  but  not  my  opinion." 

"Ah!  Then  you  do  not  understand  Colonel 
Mackenzie's  position.  You  hold,  professor,  as  I 
understand  it,  that  if  a  man  feels  a  deep  attrac- 
tion for  a  woman,  so  absorbing  a  love  that  he  can- 
not keep  silence  concerning  it,  it  is  because  she 
has  already  preferred  him." 

"  That  is  my  doctrine,"  declared  the  colonel 
stoutly. 

"  There  !  "  exclaimed  Gary,  "  you  hear  him  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  returned  the  girl  in  a  low  tone,  "  and  I 
agree  with  him." 

"You  do  not  believe,  then,  what  I  just  told 
you?" 

She  nodded  again  slowly.  "  I  believe  you  — 
yes,"  she  said,  with  soft  distinctness. 

The  agitation  in .  her  face  and  the  look  in  the 
lieutenant's  moved  the  colonel  to  generous  indig- 


PURSUER   OR   PURSUED?  73 

nation,  which  afterward  it  amused  him  to  remem- 
ber. "  What  has  come  over  you,  man  ?  Can't 
you  endure  to  be  differed  with  ?  "  he  asked. 

The  young  officer  seemed  not  to  have  heard 
him.  He  looked  bewildered  and  pale,  but  studied 
the  girl's  pure  face  more  exigently  than  ever. 
"  Then  "  -  he  began,  and  stopped. 

Her  lips  trembled.  The  colonel  looked  from 
one  to  the  other.  "  White  with  anger,  upon  my 
word,"  he  thought.  "  I  appeared  on  the  scene 
just  in  time."  Then  aloud  :  "  Gary,  I  want  you 
to  come  over  to  the  library  with  me.  I  have 
something  there  I  want  your  opinion  of." 

The  lieutenant  stood  upright  and  smiled  at  his 
superior  officer  with  a  look  in  his  face  the  colonel 
had  never  before  seen  there.  There  was  a  clear- 
eyed,  alert,  triumphant  expression  about  him  as 
he  leaned  one  hand  on  the  back  of  Miss  Bruce's 
chair. 

"  I  'm  sorry  not  to  oblige  you,  professor,  but 
the  fact  is  —  I  'm  —  engaged." 

Colonel  Mackenzie  stared  a  moment  at  the 
young  man's  changed  countenance  and  began  to 
suspect  that  — 

Then  he  looked  into  Miss  Bruce's  face. 

"  Oh,  it  will  keep  well  enough,  Gary,"  he  ejacu- 
lated, rising  so  hastily  that  he  overturned  his 
chair.  "  Don't  inconvenience  yourself  at  all. 
I  '11  "- 

But  nobody  noticed  that  for  once  the  genial 


74  PURSUER    OR  PURSUED? 

professor  was  at  a  loss  for  words  to  finish  his  sen- 
tence. In  the  involuntary  glance  he  cast  back  as 
he  retreated  around  the  angle  of  the  piazza  he  saw 
that  Cary  had  stooped.  Miss  Bruce's  parasol  was 
shading  two. 


A  CADET  CAMP  EPISODE 

THE  fresh  sweetness  of  a  morning  in  late  June 
was  perfuming  West  Point.  Mrs.  Rennard,  walk- 
ing leisurely  up  from  the  South  Gate,  under  her 
voluminously  laced  parasol,  paused  just  before  she 
reached  the  Old  Hospital  to  bestow  the  favor  of 
her  silent  approval  upon  a  rose-bush  which  stood 
loaded  with  blushing  honors  in  an  officer's  door- 
yard. 

After  an  instant  the  rustling  of  her  invisible 
silk  garments  swished  on  as  she  continued  her 
stately  promenade.  As  she  passed  the  Old  Hospi- 
tal, devoted  to  bachelor  quarters,  a  cavalry  officer 
emerged  therefrom,  and  at  sight  of  her  bared  his 
head  with  empressement. 

"  Good  morning,  Mrs.  Rennard,"  he  said,  run- 
ning down  the  iron  steps.  "  Allow  me."  He  took 
possession  of  her  parasol. 

"  Ah,  Mr.  Woodward.  The  morning  is  per- 
fectly charming,"  she  returned,  with  a  tone  of 
majestic  patronage,  calculated  to  make  grateful 
the  very  singing  birds  who  were  filling  the  air 
with  melody. 

"It  is,  indeed.  Where  is  Miss  Forsyth  this 
morning  ?  " 


76  A    CADET   CAMP   EPISODE 

"  Yonder  on  the  Harris  piazza.  I  left  her  for 
a  few  minutes  while  I  went  down  to  speak  to  Mrs. 
Court." 

The  young  girl  alluded  to  had  already  caught 
sight  of  her  aunt  and  the  young  cavalryman,  whose 
yellow  stripes  kept  dutiful  time  to  the  deliberate 
movement  of  Mrs.  Rennard's  black  laces,  while 
one  hand  twisted  the  end  of  his  well-kept  mus- 
tache. 

Phyllis  Forsyth  did  not  care  much  for  Mr. 
Woodward's  mustache.  A  good  many  girls  lose 
interest  in  mustaches  at  West  Point,  and  Phyllis 
was  one  of  these.  In  other  words,  she  was  a  cadet- 
girl,  and  this  misguided  penchant  of  hers  Lieu- 
tenant Woodward  regretted  to  observe,  for  he  had 
never  seen  a  girl  more  to  his  mind  than  the  wealthy 
Mrs.  Rennard's  niece. 

Just  as  they  reached  the  Harris  quarters  Mrs. 
Rennard  caught  sight  of  something  that  interested 
her.  "  I  think  those  are  the  plebes  coming  this 
way,"  she  said,  raising  her  lorgnette. 

They  were.  "  Phyllis,  Phyllis  !  "  she  called, 
"  come  here  quickly,  please,"  and  the  young  girl, 
obeying  the  elder  lady,  hastened  her  pace  until 
they  were  in  an  excellent  position  to  view  the 
passing  of  " Les  Miserables" 

"  I  have  been  wanting  a  good  opportunity  for 
you  to  see  these  young  men  before  they  become 
disguised  by  uniforms,"  she  said  impressively,  as 
the  tired  awkward  squad  passed  by,  periodically 


A   CADET  CAMP  EPISODE  11 

yelled  at  by  the  cadet  corporals  who  were  escorting 
them. 

"  Every  girl  who  comes  to  West  Point  should 
have  this  warning  object  lesson. 

"  Look  at  some  of  those  individuals !  More 
like  cowboys  than  gentlemen ;  yet  next  summer 
you  might  meet  them  as  equals,  provided  you  came 
to  the  Point.  Do  you  wonder,  Phyllis,  that  I 
have  warned  you  to  be  carefid  what  friends  you 
make  here  ?  " 

The  girl's  eyes  looked  pitiful  as  she  regarded 
the  strained  faces  and  attitudes  of  the  badgered 
novices,  and  she  hated  Woodward  for  his  laughing 
comments  on  their  appearance  and  the  indifference 
with  which  he  listened  to  the  short-tempered  cor- 
porals. 

Mrs.  Rennard  proceeded  with  her  exhortations 
after  the  plebes  had  vanished,  and  the  three  walked 
along  by  the  Academic  Building.  Phyllis  appeared 
to  listen  dutifully,  but  in  reality  little  cared  she 
for  future  camps  and  their  vicissitudes.  This  one 
was  enough  for  her. 

She  had  been  here  for  five  weeks  now,  con- 
stantly in  the  company  of  cadets  whom  she  had 
known  also  in  their  yearling  camp.  Needless  to 
say  her  life  was  an  engrossing  one,  and  that  she 
had  little  use  for  speculation. 

An  orderly  gray  procession  began  filing  out 
from  camp  and  across  the  cavalry  plain. 

"  Shan't  we  wait  here  a  moment  and  see  the 


78  A    CADET   CAMP   EPISODE 

cadets  pass  to  dinner  ?  "  went  on  Mrs.  Rennard  in 
a  different  tone,  as  the  shrilling  of  the  drum  corps 
met  her  ear. 

A  resigned  expression  stole  over  Woodward's 
face,  and  he  tugged  hard  at  his  mustache.  "  Even 
you,  Mrs.  Rennard !  "  he  said  dryly. 

"  Certainly,  even  I,"  she  rejoined.  "  One  must 
admire  their  fine  bearing  even  when  their  antece- 
dents are  impossible.  But  blood  will  tell.  What 
a  high-bred  face  that  young  Edgerley  has  !  " 

"  I  think  you  will  have  to  move  out  of  his  way 
a  little,"  remarked  Woodward ;  and,  indeed,  the 
cadet  captain,  marching  along  the  flagging  abreast 
of  his  company,  sword  in  hand,  seemed,  for  all  the 
attractions  of  his  fine  figure,  to  be  about  to  attempt 
to  walk  directly  upon  his  dignified  admirer,  who 
retreated  as  hastily  as  was  possible. 

Among  all  the  trained  forms  and  faces,  Phyllis 
looked  only  at  Edgerley,  and,  strangely,  as  he 
advanced,  he,  the  partner  of  her  walks  and  dances 
and  teas,  recognized  her  no  more  than  if  she  had 
been  invisible. 

The  only  one  of  their  company  whom  he  appar- 
ently saw  was  Lieutenant  Woodward.  Without 
moving  a  muscle  of  his  neck  in  his  onward  march, 
his  alert  dark  eyes  sought  those  of  the  officer,  and 
as  he  passed  him  he  raised  his  sword  before  his 
face  in  a  quick  salute,  which  was  mechanically 
returned. 

"  I  cannot  get  used  to  being  entirely  ignored  by 


A    CADET   CAMP  EPISODE  79 

these  civil  young  men,"  said  Mrs.  Rennard,  smil- 
ing graciously.  "  I  instinctively  bow  —  only  to  be 
cut,  don't  you,  Phyllis  ?  " 

A  little  further  on  stood  an  old  couple,  evidently 
from  the  country,  who  had  also  been  watching  the 
cadets  march  to  dinner.  Excursionists  are  so 
common  at  West  Point  that  Phyllis,  who  had 
fallen  behind  her  aunt  and  Mr.  Woodward,  scarcely 
glanced  at  them,  and  was  moving  on,  her  thoughts 
full  of  the  image  of  a  dark  face  and  a  pair  of 
flashing  eyes,  when  the  old  round-shouldered  man 
accosted  her. 

"  Good  day,  miss.  That 's  the  road  to  Highland 
Falls,  ain't  it  ?  "  pointing  along  the  way  the  cadets 
had  gone,  and  upon  the  girl's  assenting  he  beamed 
upon  her  with  a  toothless  smile.  "Them  boys 
march  pretty  good,  hey  ?  " 

Phyllis,  amused,  assented  again,  and  the  woman 
with  the  tired,  pleasant  eyes  and  the  old  Paisley 
shawl  smiled  too,  patiently. 

"  Pa  's  been  possessed  to  see  'em,"  she  explained. 

"  Johnnie  said  we  'd  better  not  eat  here  in  the 
park,  though  we  've  got  our  lunch,"  said  the  old 
man,  showing  the  brown  paper  bundle  in  his  wrin- 
kled hand.  "  We  come  up  in  the  stage,  but  I 
s'pose,"  looking  at  the  girl  wistfully,  "  it 's  quite  a 
piece  to  walk  to  Highland  Falls." 

"  It  would  be  too  far  under  this  hot  sun,"  she 
answered. 

"  That 's  what  I  said,  wife  ;    but,"  more  hope- 


80  A    CADET   CAMP  EPISODE 

fully,  "  we  've  got  our  lunch,  and  we  '11  go  clown 
the  road  a  ways,  where  't  won't  do  no  harm,  and 
we  '11  eat  it.  Then  we  '11  come  back  agin  fer 
parade.  Ye  see,  Johnnie  did  n't  know  we  was 
comin',  and  he  's  got  somethin'  to  do  this  after- 
noon —  when  did  he  say  parade  was,  miss  ?  " 

«  Six  o'clock." 

"  Well,    well "  —  the    eager    old    face    fell  — 
"  that 's  a  good  spell  to  wait,  ain't  it?  " 

"  Pa,  don't  trouble  the  young  lady,"  said  his  wife 
gently;  then  she  thanked  Phyllis  and  passed  on. 
The  girl  saw  that  her  aunt  had  strolled  toward  the 
hotel  and  sent  Mr.  Woodward  back  to  meet  her. 

"  What  did  those  hayseeds  want  ?  "  inquired  the 
officer  as  he  approached. 

"  Oh,  only  some  information." 

"  Why  could  n't  they  have  asked  me  ?  "  Wood- 
ward took  the  girl's  parasol  as  he  turned  to  accom- 
pany her. 

"  Awed  by  your  yellow  stripes,  probably.  Poor 
old  creatures !  They  have  descended  unexpectedly 
upon  some  cadet  Johnnie,  and  I  was  just  wonder- 
ing if  Johnnie  was  properly  glad  to  see  them  and 
had  treated  them  well." 

"  Oh,  I  dare  say  he  wishes  they  had  stayed  at 
the  Four  Corners,  or  wherever  they  belong.  Their 
appearance  suggests  it.  A  cadet's  summer  visitors 
are  a  great  give-away  sometimes.  We  get  all 
sorts  here,  sure  enough." 

Arrived  at   the  hotel,   Phyllis   saw,   almost  as 


A    CADET   CAMP  EPISODE  81 

soon  as  she  had  passed  the  hedge,  that  some  excite- 
ment was  afoot. 

Kate,  Mrs.  Rennard's  stately  brunette  daughter, 
had  met  her  on  the  piazza,  and  was  apparently- 
giving  her  some  startling  information.  Mrs.  Ren- 
nard's nostrils  dilated  as  Miss  Forsyth  and  the 
cavalry  officer  came  up  the  steps.  The  piazza  was 
deserted  save  for  their  little  group. 

"  Mr.  Woodward,"  she  began,  with  imposing 
dignity,  "  I  should  like  you  to  tell  me  what  you 
know  of  Mr.  Edgerley." 

The  lieutenant's  smile  was  non-committal.  He 
might  have  replied  that  he  knew  the  cadet  captain 
to  be  a  thorn  in  his  own  side,  but  he  did  not. 

"  I  know  that  he  is  lucky  enough  to  be  high  in 
your  favor,"  he  returned.  , 

"  So  he  has  been,"  declared  Mrs.  Rennard  su- 
perbly. "  We  have  been  betrayed.  It  is  a  case 
in  hand,  Phyllis.  You  remember  what  I  said  to 
you  a  little  while  ago  as  the  plebes  passed  by? 
May  I  ask  you,  Mr.  Woodward,  if  you  know  any- 
thing of  Mr.  Edgerley's  connections  ?  " 

"  I  do  not,  Mrs.  Rennard,"  returned  the  young 
officer,  who  observed  with  satisfaction  that,  what- 
ever the  cause,  his  cadet  rival's  stock  had  suddenly 
taken  a  fall. 

"  Kate,"  commanded  Mrs.  Rennard,  "  tell  them 
what  you  have  just  told  me." 

The  tall  girl's  cheeks  were  glowing,  and  in  spite 
of  her  effort  toward  a  passive  manner  she  was  too 


82  A   CADET   CAMP  EPISODE 

young  to  be  able  to  quell  the  feeling  in  her  bright 
eyes.  Cadet  Captain  Edgerley  had  indeed  cut 
a  broad  swath  socially  in  his  First-class  camp. 
Even  these  two  fastidious  girls  had  had  their  secret 
jealousies  of  each  other  on  his  account. 

"  Oh,  well,  it  is  no  such  great  matter,"  said 
Miss  Kennard,  striving  to  speak  indifferently, 
"  only  we  all  thought  Mr.  Edgerley  was  a  gentle- 
man." 

"  We  know  he  is !  "  flashed  forth  Phyllis  sud- 
denly. 

"  Wait !  "  said  Mrs.  Rennard  imperiously. 

"  Two  country  people  have  been  over  in  camp 
this  morning  asking  for  him,"  went  on  Kate,  meet- 
ing her  cousin's  gaze.  "  He  came  out  and  talked 
with  them.  They  hailed  him  as  their  dear  boy 
Johnnie.  He  kissed  the  woman." 

Miss  Eennard's  even  voice  ceased.  She  could 
not  keep  it  even  any  longer.  The  shock  of  the 
moment  came  back  to  her  too  vividly. 

Phyllis's  cheeks  also  began  to  glow.  "  It  was 
they,  then,  that  I  met !  "  she  said.  "  The  man  had 
on  a  linen  duster." 

Miss  Rennard  inclined  her  head. 

Her  cousin's  gray  eyes  remained  fixed  upon  her. 

"You  were  going  to  walk  with  Mr.  Edgerley 
this  morning  ?  "  said  Phyllis. 

"  Yes.  I  had  promised  to  meet  him  in  camp. 
That  is  how  I  happened  to  be  there." 

"  What  did  you  do  ?  " 


A    CADET   CAMP   EPISODE  83 

Both  girls  had  forgotten  Woodward,  and  even 
Mrs.  Rennard.  They  looked  at  each  other  with  an 
interchange  of  understanding. 

"  He  bowed  to  me  as  he  came  up,  but  his  people 
surprised  him  and  detained  him,  and  —  and  I  sent 
one  of  the  men  to  him  with  word  that  I  had  forgot- 
ten a  previous  engagement,  and  should  not  be  able 
to  go  with  him  this  morning." 

Miss  Forsyth's  lips  compressed.  "  How  did  he 
take  it?" 

"  He  looked  over  at  me  in  a  surprised  way  " 

"  Im-per-ti-nent !  "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Rennard ;  and 
as  the  word  fell  from  her  lips  it  seemed  to  have 
three  times  the  usual  number  of  syllables,  each 
one  freighted  with  her  appreciation  of  the  luckless 
cadet's  effrontery. 

—  "  but  after  that  look  he  sent  back  word  that 
he  understood." 

"  I  only  hope  he  did  understand ! "  declaimed 
Mrs.  Rennard. 

"  Poor  chap,"  said  Lieutenant  Woodward,  twist- 
ing his  mustache  ;  "  that  was  rough  on  him.  It 
was  a  real  Farmer  Wayback  who  spoke  to  you, 
wasn't  it,  Miss  Forsyth?  " 

The  girl  turned  her  dainty  head  toward  him 
slowly.  "Yes,  they  were  evidently  country  peo- 
ple," she  answered. 

His  people!  Mr.  Edgerley's  people  with  their 
lunch  in  a  brown  paper  bundle  !  They  were  going 
to  eat  it  by  the  roadside  somewhere.  The  patient, 


84  A    CADET   CAMP  EPISODE 

tired  face  of  the  woman  came  back  to  her  with  as 
much  vividness  as  if  she  had  known  it  all  her  life. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  the  audience  began  gath- 
ering for  parade.  Girls  in  pretty  summer  gowns 
flitted  through  the  hedge  before  the  hotel  to  join 
the  bell-buttoned  cavaliers,  with  whom  they  would 
chat  and  laugh  and  flirt  until  the  very  last  moment 
would  see  the  white-trousered  legs  of  the  cadets 
speeding  toward  camp  to  be  ready  for  the  prepara- 
tory inspection. 

To-day  there  was  a  new  subject  for  conversa- 
tion among  First-class  men  and  their  friends,  — 
"  Edgerley's  surprise  party,"  as  some  of  them 
called  it ;  for  the  old  people  were  early  on  the  scene 
to  wait  for  "  Johnnie,"  and  laughter  and  specula- 
tion ran  high  hi  some  quarters,  while  scorn  and 
injured  dignity  obtained  in  other  cliques. 

The  old  man  spoke  to  any  one  who  happened  to 
sit  near  him,  asking  questions  or  descanting  on 
"  Johnnie's  "  attainments,  and  he  recognized  Miss 
Forsyth  as  she  passed  near  him  in  a  fine,  ethereal 
gown  with  elbow  sleeves. 

His  faded  blue  eyes  lighted  as  he  sat  there,  both 
hands  resting  on  his  cane.  "  Here  we  air,  you  see, 
miss,"  he  said  happily,  and  Phyllis  grew  surpass- 
ingly rosy  as  she  bowed  slightly  and  passed  on  to 
her  place. 

Edgerley's  movements  at  any  time,  were  a  mat- 
ter of  interest,  but  this  afternoon  —  how  piquant 
the  situation ! 


A    CADET   CAMP   EPISODE        ^  85 

They  had  not  long  to  wait.  A  hundred  curious 
eyes  recognized  the  cadet  captain's  advent  from  his 
company  street  half  an  hour  before  parade.  What 
was  he  doing  ?  Why  did  he  not  take  the  shortest 
cut  toward  the  spectators?  He  turned  to  his  right 
and  moved  across  the  plain  to  the  guard  tent,  where 
he  stopped  an  instant,  then  he  began  to  walk  de- 
liberately along  the  line  in  front  of  the  crowded 
seats. 

It  was  evident  that  he  chose  to  run  a  gauntlet. 
As  he  moved  along  in  his  spotless  parade  uniform, 
his  dark  eyes  roved  among  the  crowd.  A  few 
bowed  to  him ;  many  more  became  preoccupied, 
and  chatted  faster  than  before.  A  few  looked 
straight  into  his  eyes  unseeingly. 

Occasionally  his  hand  rose  in  the  salute  of  an 
officer  as  he  passed ;  and  a  climax  of  interest  was 
reached  as  he  approached  the  couple,  who  only 
now  discovered  him. 

He  paused  before  the  strangers  and  gave  a  hand 
to  each,  and  standing  at  ease,  his  feet  planted 
slightly  apart,  he  fell  into  a  conversation  with  them 
which,  if  it  were  not  interesting  and  happy  to  him, 
proved  the  young  man  to  be  as  good  an  actor  as  he 
was  student. 

When  Phyllis  returned  to  the  hotel  after  the 
parade,  she  found  this  note  awaiting  her :  — 

DEAR  Miss  FORSYTH,  —  My  people  having  arrived 
unexpectedly,  and  for  a  short  time  only,  I  must  reluct- 
antly resign  the  pleasure  of  being  your  escort  to  the  con- 


86  A    CADET   CAMP   EPISODE 

cert  this  evening  and  to  the  hop  to-morrow  night,  in  order 
that  I  may  spend  all  the  time  possible  with  them. 

Sincerely  yours,  JOHN  J.  EDGERLET. 

Phyllis  went  with  her  aunt  to  the  concert, 
where  the  fireflies  were  spangling  the  plain,  and 
Lieutenant  Woodward  had  never  found  her  so 
gracious. 

The  next  night  Grant  Hall  was  gay  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  cadet  hop.  The  girls  who  had  Mr. 
Edgerley's  name  on  their  cards  exchanged  remarks, 
all  except  Kate  Rennard  and  her  cousin. 

Edgerley's  air  as  he  entered  could  not  have 
been  different  if  he  had  been  escorting  Mrs.  Ren- 
nard  herself.  He  found  good  seats  for  his  people, 
who  looked  upon  the  scene  with  absorbed  and 
open-lipped  interest,  while  the  gay  music  set  the 
old  father's  cane  to  tapping  the  floor. 

A  dozen  hearts  in  the  room  fluttered  faster  for 
his  presence,  and  prepared  replies  in  the  event  of 
his  coming  to  claim  the  dances  promised  him.  Per- 
haps his  experience  at  parade  had  convinced  him 
of  his  changed  status.  At  any  rate,  he  did  not 
approach  his  friends. 

Shortly  after  his  arrival  he  moved  across  to 
where  stood  Colonel  Burritt,  one  of  his  professors, 
and  said  a  few  words  to  him  in  a  low  tone. 

Colonel  Burritt  responded,  and  Edgerley  spoke 
again ;  then  the  colonel  returned  with  him  across 
the  hall  and  shook  hands  with  the  old  couple, 
talking  with  them  a  few  minutes. 


A    CADET   CAMP   EPISODE  87 

When  kindly  Colonel  Burritt  finally  bowed  and 
withdrew,  the  trio  looked  on  in  silence  for  a  few 
minutes  more ;  then  Edgerley  said  something  to 
his  companions,  and  they  rose  and  slowly  left  the 
hall  with  him. 

Several  pairs  of  eyes  watched  curiously  the 
lonely  departure  of  the  three  —  the  bowed  figure 
of  the  old  man  in  his  short  trousers,  and  the 
narrow-shouldered  woman  clinging  to  the  cadet's 
arm. 

A  swinging  waltz  had  just  started.  Phyllis 
Forsyth  had  been  engaged  to  Edgerley  for  it,  and 
she  was  dancing  it  with  Lieutenant  Woodward. 
He  made  some  laughing  comment  on  the  strangers 
as  they  disappeared. 

His  partner  suddenly  stopped  as  they  reached 
the  door.  She  was  panting  with  some  overwhelm- 
ing feeling.  The  lieutenant  looked  at  her  in  sur- 
prise. 

"  Will  you  excuse  me  ?  "  she  said  abruptly,  her 
delicate  nostrils  dilating  and  her  eyes  pleading 
with  him.  "  I  am  going  out  here  a  minute.  Don't 
follow  me." 

Before  he  could  reply  she  had  vanished,  and  he 
stood  looking  at  the  door  in  bewilderment. 

A  few  rods  away  in  the  radiant  moonlight  a 
carriage  stood  waiting.  The  cadet  captain  and 
his  people  had  reached  it  when  a  light-footed 
white  figure  caught  up  with  them. 

"Mr.  Edgerley,"  said  Phyllis,  breathless  from 


88  A    CADET    CAMP   EPISODE 

her  agitation,  "  you  have  not  introduced  me  to 
your  people." 

"  Miss  Forsyth !  "  he  exclaimed,  in  astonish- 
ment. 

"  Why,  it 's  our  young  lady,  ma,"  said  the  old 
man.  "  I  did  n't  see  ye  in  that  whirligig  place, 
miss !  My  head  's  jest  a-spinniii'  'round  like  a 
top,  lookin'  at  them  boys  and  girls ;  but  Johnnie, 
he  would  have  it  that  we  was  to  see  everything 
'long  's  we  'd  made  out  to  git  here." 

"  Yes,  pa 's  sat'sfied  at  last,"  said  the  wife 
gently.  "You  was  very  kind  to  come  out  to 
speak  to  us,  but  I  'm  afraid  you  '11  ketch  cold  in 
that  thin  dress  in  the  night  air.  Take  her  into 
the  house,  Johnnie.  Good-by,  dear,"  turning  to 
Edgerley.  "We  won't  never  forget  your  kind- 
ness in  this  world."  She  lifted  her  thin  hands  to 
the  tall  cadet's  face,  and  he  stooped  and  kissed 
her.  Then  he  shook  hands  with  the  old  man,  and 
tucked  them  both  into  the  carriage.  "  I  hope 
you  '11  have  a  good  trip  back ;  and  don't  forget 
to  write  me,"  he  said  cheerily. 

The  horses  started  off  in  the  direction  of  High- 
land Falls,  and  the  smile  faded  from  Edgerley's 
face  as  he  turned  toward  Phyllis. 

"  What  does  this  mean,  Miss  Forsyth  ? "  he 
asked. 

"  It  means  that  I  wished  to  meet  your  parents," 
she  answered  him,  with  soft  and  breathless  de- 
fiance. 


89 

He  continued  to  look  at  her  for  a  time  as  she 
stood,  her  head  thrown  back  ;  then  he  offered  her 
his  arm,  and  they  walked  without  speech  to  the 
hall. 

When  they  had  reached  the  foot  of  the  steps,  he 
stood  still. 

"  Will  you  go  in  there  and  dance  with  me  ?  " 
he  asked. 

"  Yes,"  she  answered  quickly. 

He  smiled  down  at  her,  a  very  tender  and  proud 
expression  in  his  eyes. 

"  You  mean  to  stand  by  me,  then  ?  " 

"  Always." 

The  answer  and  the  manner  of  it  made  him 
take  her  hand.  The  old  elms  waved  slowly  and 
caressingly  above  them,  and  the  waltz  music 
floated  out  from  the  open  windows. 

"  Phyllis,  until  yesterday  I  meant  to  get  cour- 
age somehow  to  tell  you  how  I  love  you,  but  I 
did  n't  think  it  would  come  like  this  —  when  I  was 
despairing.  Have  n't  my  people  —  my  dear,  dear 
old  people  —  frightened  you  ?  " 

She  looked  up  at  him  through  moist  eyes. 

"  Nothing  frightens  me  but  losing  you,  Jack !  " 

Five  minutes  afterward  Mrs.  Rennard's  face 
grew  deeply,  darkly  red,  for  her  niece  floated  past 
her  in  the  waltz  with  Jack  Edgerley. 

The  dance  had  been  nearly  over  when  they 
entered  the  hall,  and  when  the  music  ceased  Mrs. 
Rennard  caught  the  look  that  passed  between 


90  A    CADET   CAMP   EPISODE 

Phyllis  and  "  that  common  young  man,"  —  a 
look  that  spoke  volumes  to  her  suspicious  eyes. 

Her  daughter  soon  came  to  her  side.  Kate 
was  evidently  quite  as  agitated  as  herself,  but  they 
were  obliged  to  content  themselves  with  meaning 
glances  until  the  hop  was  over. 

"Where  is  Phyllis,  Kate?"  asked  Mrs.  Ren- 
nard  then,  with  subdued  sharpness. 

"  She  has  disappeared  completely.  I  am  dis- 
gusted with  her !  "  exclaimed  the  young  girl. 

Then  Kate's  escort  claimed  her  for  the  stroll 
back  to  the  hotel,  and,  Colonel  Burritt  happening 
to  leave  the  hall  as  Mrs.  Rennard  did,  the  two 
walked  along  together. 

Kate  had  been  in  her  room  several  minutes 
when  her  mother  entered.  Mrs.  Rennard's  crim- 
son and  angry  expression  had  died  away,  but  her 
face  betrayed  some  excitement  still.  "  We  have 
been  misled,  Kate,"  she  announced  impressively. 
"  Colonel  Burritt  has  been  telling  me  quite  a  ro- 
mantic story  of  Mr.  Edgerley's  family.  It  seems 
they  are  entirely  comme  il  faut.  His  father  was 
a  very  wealthy  man,  but  unfortunate,  and  became 
an  embezzler  for  a  large  amount." 

Kate  stared. 

"  The  unhappy  gentleman  died  shortly  before 
Mr.  Edgerley's  birth,  and  his  mother,  always  after- 
ward being  an  invalid,  frequently  left  her  child  in 
charge  of  a  worthy  old  couple  who  lived  in  the 
village  where  she  had  her  country  house.  They 


A    CADET   CAMP   EPISODE  91 

are  the  people  who  have  just  been  here.  Really, 
it  is  a  little  mortifying  to  have  snubbed  him.  Ah, 
Phyllis,"  for  here  the  young  girl  came  in,  her 
face  pale,  but  the  shine  of  the  stars  still  in  her 
eyes,  "  I  must  take  you  to  task  a  little,  my  dear. 
Have  n't  you  been  rather  exclusive  with  our  cadet 
captain  to-night  ?  " 

The  playful  tone  surprised  the  girl. 

"  Then  you  won't  make  it  hard  for  me  ?  "  she 
exclaimed  softly,  moving  to  her  aunt  and  receiv- 
ing from  her  a  gracious  embrace. 

Kate  Rennard's  dark  cheeks  glowed  and  she  bit 
her  lip  hard.  "  I  hope  Mr.  Edgerley  is  not  hurt 
by  anything  I  have  done,"  she  said. 

Phyllis  glanced  at  her  with  genuine  but  wound- 
ing innocence. 

"  I  don't  think  he  cares,"  she  answered. 


A  FRANCO-AMERICAN 

Miss  VIOLET  GLASGOW  was  standing  near  the 
rail  of  an  outward-bound  Cunarder  alone.  The 
startling  fact  that  she  was  alone  penetrated  at  first 
vaguely,  then  acutely,  to  the  brain  of  Mr.  Richard 
Eames,  who  had  been  dozing  luxuriously  in  his 
steamer  chair,  a  few  rods  distant. 

During  the  two  months  since  he  first  met  her 
he  had  been  more  or  less  consciously  on  the  look- 
out for  opportunities  like  the  present,  and  had 
even  taken  passage  on  the  Etruria  three  weeks  be- 
fore the  government  demanded  his  return,  in  the 
undeclared  hope  of  securing  many  undisturbed 
interviews  with  this  vivacious  maiden.  Events 
proved,  however,  that  he  was  not  singular  in  his 
enjoyment  of  her  society,  and,  consequently,  the 
discovery  of  the  present  situation  caused  him  to 
be  alertly  awake  and  on  his  feet  in  a  second. 

"  Are  you  wearing  something  enchanted  which 
makes  you  invisible  to  all  men  but  me?  "  he  asked, 
as  he  approached  her. 

The  girl  turned  to  him  with  an  airy  pose  of  the 
head.  "  You  intend  to  flatter  me,"  she  said,  with 
a  slight  foreign  accent,  "  so  I  will  take  the  will  for 
the  deed." 


A   FRANCO-AMERICAN  93 

"  Unfeeling  young  woman  !  " 

"  I  am  not  sure  that  it  is  a  compliment  to  imply 
that  I  am  usually  surrounded  by  men,  especially 
when  the  implication  is  made  by  a  person  who  does 
not  understand  that  I  permit  their  attentions  on 
principle,"  Miss  Glasgow  spoke  loftily. 

"  I  humbly  beg  to  be  enlightened.  We  have 
but  one  day  left  for  me  to  continue  my  respectful 
study  of  the  Franco- American  character." 

"  Drop  the  Franco.  I  am  American  through 
and  through.  That  is  why  I  have  contended  for 
my  rights  with  Aunt  Margaret.  I  was  but  five 
years  of  age  when  she  took  me  to  France,  and,  as 
I  have  lived  there  ever  since,  you  can  imagine  that 
I  have  had  some  difficulty  to  preserve  purely  Amer- 
ican principles,  especially  since  my  aunt  is  very 
much  affected  by  French  ideas." 

"  You  must  have  had  a  struggle,"  returned  her 
companion,  with  praiseworthy  gravity. 

"  A  struggle,  indeed  !  Just  fancy !  "  Violet 
lowered  her  voice  confidentially,  "  my  aunt  would 
like  me  to  marry  a  man  I  have  never  seen,  the  son 
of  a  dear  friend  of  hers.  She  is  as  extreme  as 
that ! " 

"  Atrocious  !  "  exclaimed  Eames  feelingly. 

"  I  have  been  busy  at  school  most  of  my  life,  of 
course ;  but  I  always  knew  I  was  going  home  to 
America  some  day,  and  as  soon  as  we  set  foot  on 
this  vessel,  I  considered  that  I  had  already  ar- 
rived." 


94  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

"  Precisely." 

"  And  when  Aunt  Margaret  demurred  at  the  — 
attentions  you  referred  to,  I  simply  reminded  her 
of  her  nationality.  I  intend  to  enjoy  the  rights  of 
my  countrywomen,  and  said  I  to  her :  — 

"  '  Down  with  the  traitor,  and 
Up  with  the  Star.'  " 

"  Noble  patriot !  Your  aunt  being  the  traitor, 
and  you  being  the  star.  I  see.  I  see !  " 

"  I  have  known  American  girls  in  Paris.  I 
know  their  ways.  Do  you  suppose  I  am  going 
home  to  behave  like  a  foreigner  ?  No.  Jamais 
de  la  vie  !  " 

At  the  nervous  energy  of  the  exclamation  Mr. 
Eames  could  only  nod  a  respectful  agreement. 

"  Do  you  expect  to  remain  in  America  ? "  he 
asked. 

"  I  hope  so.  If  it  is  what  I  think  it  is,  I  shall 
want  to.  I  have  a  sister  there."  The  brown  eyes 
looked  off  musingly. 

"  When  have  you  seen  her  ?  " 

"  Not  once  in  all  these  years.  A  twin  sister  at 
that.  Another  aunt  took  her  when  we  were  left 
orphans.  Does  n't  it  seem  sad  that  we  should  have 
been  divided?  But  each  aunt  wanted  us,  so  there 
was  no  other  way.  Can  you  imagine,  Mr.  Eames, 
what  it  must  be  to  have  a  twin  soul,  —  a  creature 
so  nearly  one  with  you  that  separation  creates  a 
constant  craving  for  the  absent  one  ?  " 

"I  —  I  suppose  I  ought  to  be  able  to "  — 


A   FRANCO-AMERICAN  95 

"  Why,  you  are  just  like  me,"  interrupted  the 
girl  delightedly,  her  bright  face,  with  its  daintily- 
curved  mouth,  confronting  him.  "  I  suppose  I 
ought  to  be  able  to,  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
never  was.  Phoebe  —  my  sister's  name  is  Phoebe 
—  and  I  have  corresponded  always,  of  course,  but 
she  does  not  write  long  letters  ;  she  goes  to  a  school 
called  Smith  College,  and  she  is  very  busy,  and  — 
well,  there  are  several  girls  to  whom  I  feel  nearer. 
Now,  is  n't  that  dreadful  ?  " 

She  caught  her  lip  between  her  small  teeth  and 
gazed  at  Eames  for  sympathy.  He  shook  his  head 
with  the  gravity  the  situation  demanded. 

"  I  think  it  argues  something  wicked  in  me  that 
I  am  not  more  eager  to  see  Phoebe.  I  was  ponder- 
ing over  it  when  you  came  up ;  trying  to  justify 
myself,  you  know." 

"  How  were  you  getting  on  ?  " 

"  Slowly.  My  sister  has  been  brought  up  in  a 
provincial  village,  and  on  that  score  I  was  excusing 
myself  for  suspecting  that  we  should  not  have  much 
in  common.  I  was  wondering  how  she  would  be- 
have, and  —  and  dress.  Was  n't  it  small  and 
selfish?" 

Eames  lifted  his  eyes  and  hands  skyward  in 
righteous  amazement. 

"Yes,  it  was  cold-blooded,"  went  on  the  girl. 
"  I  wonder  you  do  not  recoil  from  me." 

"  It  is  strange ;  but  then,  you  know,  in  this 
world  it  is  the  unexpected  that  always  happens. 


96  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

Of  course  you  have  pictures  of  your  sister.  Does 
she  resemble  you  as  closely  as  she  ought  to? " 

The  girl  looked  at  him  alertly.  "  Are  you  pay- 
ing me  another  compliment  ?  " 

"  Not  wishing  to  be  snubbed  twice  in  the  same 
interview  —  no,  I  am  merely  putting  a  physiologi- 
cal query." 

"  Do  you  suppose  I  would  snub  an  officer  in  our 
army  ?  "  reproachfully. 

"  Well,  I  have  gathered  that  under  provocation 
you  would." 

"  No,  Mr.  Eames ;  you  are  entirely  mistaken. 
It  hurts  me  to  be  so  misunderstood.  You  are 
sacred  in  my  eyes." 

The  lieutenant  smiled.  "  Whe  —  ew  !  and  such 
eyes !  " 

"  Be  careful !  " 

"Oh,  well  —  since  I  am  assured  immunity." 

"  But  you  should  n't  be  flippant ;  you  should 
have  too  much  self-respect.  Officers  in  the  United 
States  army  should  have  something  better  to  do 
than  to  make  pretty  speeches  to  girls." 

"  They  manage  to  make  time  for  that." 

"  I  shall  shortly  know  more  about  it,"  observed 
Miss  Glasgow,  regarding  him  musingly,  "  for  one  of 
the  first  places  I  am  going  to  in  America  is  a  mili- 
tary post." 

"Indeed?  I  thought  your  destination  was 
among  the  Berkshire  hills." 

"  Yes,  it  was  at  first,  but  our  plans  are  changed 


A   FRANCO-AMERICAN  97 

since  I  talked  to  you  about  them.  I  have  a  cousin 
who  is  married  to  an  army  officer,  and  she  has 
invited  my  sister  and  me  to  visit  together  at  her 
house.  I  consider  it  an  especially  happy  beginning 
to  go  first  where  the  stars  and  stripes  are  waving." 

"  Auspicious,  indeed !  What  post  is  it  which  is 
going  to  gain  such  an  enthusiast  ?  " 

Violet's  fair  brow  contracted  slightly.  "  The 
name  has  slipped  my  mind  this  minute.  Mrs, 
Jameson,  that  is  my  cousin,  says  it  is  a  lovely 
place,  on  a  river." 

"  Mrs.  Jameson  !  "  eagerly.  *'  I  suppose  it  is 
not  West  Point  ?  " 

"  C'est  $a  /  "  ejaculated  the  girl,  nodding  with 
satisfaction.  "  That  is  the  name." 

Eames  threw  back  his  head,  with  an  exclama- 
tion. "  So  much  the  better  for  me.  That  is  my 
post  at  present.  You  know  our  military  academy 
is  situated  there,  and  I  am  detailed  as  an  in- 
structor." 

"What  in?" 

"  French." 

"  A  la  bonne  heure  / "  said  the  girl,  following 
the  exclamation  with  a  voluble  flow  of  words  in  the 
graceful  language,  against  which  Eames  made  pro- 
testing gestures,  finally  flying  his  handkerchief  to 
the  fresh  breeze. 

"  Do  you  know  a  flag  of  truce  when  you  see 
it?"  he  asked.  "  Are  n't  you  aware  that  the  best 
teachers  of  the  voice  can't  sing  a  note  ?  I  don't 


98  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

know  how  it  may  be  elsewhere,  but  in  languages  at 
West  Point  the  analogy  is  complete." 

"  I  have  no  doubt  you  are  only  obstinate,"  re- 
sponded the  girl,  with  a  shrug. 

"  So  that  is  to  be  the  spot  where  you  and  your 
sister  make  one  another's  acquaintance?"  mused 
Eames. 

"  Yes,  and  you  may  be  sure  I  should  not  have 
made  such  confessions  to  you  had  I  supposed  we 
should  ever  meet  again  after  to-morrow."  She 
glanced  at  the  lieutenant,  and  something  in  his 
gaze  brought  a  flush  to  her  cheeks. 

"I  am  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  observing- 
whether  your  native  land  meets  your  expectations, 
and  whether  you  bear  up  nobly  in  case  your  sisterrs 
traditions  fulfill  your  worst  apprehensions ;  but  I 
shall  not  see  you  until  you  have  had  time  to  adjust 
yourself  to  the  facts,  whatever  they  may  be.  I  am 
not  obliged  to  report  until  the  twenty-eighth." 

"  I  am  very  glad  of  it,  I  am  sure,"  returned  the 
girl.  "  It  is  unfortunate  that  I  chose  you  for  a 
confidant." 

"  But  you  will  still  be  there  by  the  twenty- 
eighth?" 

"  I  cannot  say.  My  aunt  is  going  to  relinquish 
me  to  my  sister  and  Mrs.  Jameson  for  the  sum- 
mer —  provisionally."  An  eloquent  lift  of  prettily 
defined  eyebrows  pointed  Miss  Glasgow's  words. 

"  I  see.  You  let  your  aunt  go,  but  you  keep  a 
string  tied  to  her." 


A   FRANCO-AMERICAN  99 

"  What  ?  "  much  mystified. 

"  As  they  say  in  America,"  returned  Eames  ex- 
planatorily. 

"  Oh,  yes."  Miss  Glasgow  looked  pleased  and 
eager.  "  That  is  slang,  I  suppose,  and  I  am  so 
anxious  to  learn  it  all." 

The  lieutenant  smiled.  "  But  there  is  only  one 
day  left,  you  see." 

"  I  know  ever  so  much  already,"  Violet  answered 
triumphantly. 

"  Well,  I  prophesy  that  you  will  not  need  the 
metaphorical  string.  You  won't  want  your  aunt. 
There  is  something  wrong  with  a  girl  who  does  not 
enjoy  West  Point." 

"Indeed?" 

"  Certainly ;  and,  in  your  case,  principle  will 
uphold  you  if  nothing  else.  What  more  can  you 
ask  than  to  be  surrounded  by  those  who  are  already 
your  country's  defenders,  and  those  who  are  learn- 
ing to  become  so  ?  " 

"  You  mean  the  students  ?  " 

"  Yes,  the  cadets.  Which  do  you  intend  to  be, 
in  the  society  of  the  post,  an  officer-girl,  or  a  cadet- 
girl?" 

"Which  is  more  amusing?"  she  asked  gravely. 

"That  is  not  for  me  to  say,"  returned  Eames 
modestly. 

" Is  n't  it  proper  to  be  both?  " 

"Perfectly,  but  it  is  not  always  possible.  It 
depends  upon  how  clever  you  are." 


100  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

"  You  see,  I  don't  know  how  clever  I  am  yet," 
returned  the  girl  ingenuously,  "  I  have  been  so 
recently  emancipated." 

Her  companion  laughed ;  but  here  certain  others 
of  Miss  Glasgow's  fellow-voyagers  approached,  and 
Eames  did  not  see  her  alone  again  before  they 
landed. 

Mrs.  Dent,  Violet's  aunt,  had  been  exiled  so 
many  years  from  her  native  land  that  she  was 
eager  to  visit  certain  old  friends  with  whom  her 
niece  would  have  nothing  in  common,  and,  there- 
fore, she  was  very  willing  to  give  her  into  the  hands 
of  Mrs.  Jameson.  "  Phoebe  would  not  come  with 
me,"  announced  that  little  woman  briskly,  while 
they  were  all  waiting  the  movements  of  the  customs 
officials.  "  She  had  some  sentiment  about  greet- 
ing her  twin  first  in  this  public  place." 

"  Alas !  "  thought  Violet,  "  she  is  sentimental." 

With  Mrs.  Jameson  —  stylish,  pretty,  vivacious 
—  she  decided  at  once  that  she  should  get  on  ad- 
mirably, and  she  bade  farewell  to  her  aunt  in  good 
spirits. 

"  Take  care  of  her,  Belle,"  said  Mrs.  Dent,  in 
her  sonorous,  impressive  accents.  "  I  do  trust  she 
won't  make  you  any  trouble.  Violet  is  a  good 
girl." 

Mrs.  Jameson  appeared  to  have  no  apprehen- 
sions. Indeed,  hers  was  the  cheerful,  adaptable 
disposition  invaluable  to  an  army-woman  and  the 
army- woman's  husband.  She  observed  the  effusive 


A    FRANCO-AMERICAN  101 

leavetaking  of  her  young  cousin  by  the  latter's 
traveling  companions,  and  decided  that  the  girl 
must  be  as  attractive  as  she  looked.  Among 
these  was  Mr.  Eames,  to  whom  Mrs.  Jameson 
gave  the  handshake  of  good  comradeship. 

"  What  are  you  back  for  ?  "  she  demanded. 

"  More  visits  to  make.  I  'm  so  popular,  you 
see.  What  is  new  ?  " 

"  Nothing  but  my  twins.  I  '11  let  you  come  and 
see  them  when  you  return,  if  you  're  good." 

"  Wha  —  what !  Oh,  you  mean  the  Miss  Glas- 
gows." 

"  Of  course.  I  hope  you  have  n't  imbibed 
English  slowness  in  two  months." 

"  I  don't  know.  The  soil  was  favorable,  you 
see,  to  start  with." 

"  That  is  one  of  the  best  fellows  in  the  world," 
said  Mrs.  Jameson,  as  she  put  her  charge  into  a 
carriage.  "  He  belongs  to  my  husband's  regiment, 
and  we  are  so  fond  of  him." 

Violet  listened  attentively.  She  had  known 
American  women  in  Paris,  but  that  was  different 
from  observing  and  listening  to  one  of  the  envied 
beings  in  her  native  air  and  on  American  soil. 

"  I  am  so  glad  to  be  at  home,"  she  sighed,  as 
the  carriage  rattled  away  to  a  hotel. 

Mrs.  Jameson  laughed.  "  Why,  bless  your 
heart,  is  that  the  way  you  feel  about  it  ?  " 

"  Of  course  it  is,"  replied  the  girl,  with  dig- 
nity. 


102  A    FRANCO-AMERICAN 

"  Well,  you  are  a  loyal  soul  and  I  am  proud  of 
you." 

"  Is  my  sister  well  ?  "  asked  Violet  tentatively. 

"  Yes,  she  is  always  well." 

"  A  regular  milkmaid,  I  suppose,"  thought  Miss 
Glasgow.  "  Are  we  alike  ?  "  she  inquired  aloud. 

"  Very  much,  in  feature ;  but  I  think  your  style 
is  quite  different.  Of  course,  I  can't  be  sure 

yet." 

"  Oh,  yes,  you  can,"  thought  the  other,  with 
such  emphasis  that  it  is  a  wonder  the  words  did 
not  escape. 

"  Aunt  Marion's  home  is  so  quiet  it  must  be  a 
great  pleasure  to  Phoebe  to  see  something  of  the 
world  with  you." 

"  I  think  she  will  enjoy  herself.  She  arrived 
only  yesterday." 

The  next  morning  Mrs.  Jameson  took  her  cousin 
up  the  river  by  boat.  "  I  do  not  expect  Phoebe 
will  come  down  to  meet  us,"  she  said,  as  the 
landing-bell  rang  for  the  West  Point  dock.  "  She 
is  a  girl  of  decided  ideas,  and  she  evidently  does 
not  choose  that  strangers  shall  witness  her  meet- 
ing with  the  sister  that  she  has  not  seen  for  four- 
teen years." 

Violet  looked  about  her  curiously.  As  the 
omnibus  in  which  they  sat  ascended  the  steep, 
winding  road,  she  was  more  engrossed  in  her  sur- 
roundings than  in  anticipation  of  the  doubtful 
pleasure  of  meeting  her  twin. 


A   FRAXCO-AMERICAX  103 

Meanwhile,  on  the  vine-laden  porch  of  Mrs. 
Jameson's  cottage  a  young  girl  waited,  looking 
through  the  clustering  leaves  for  the  first  glimpse 
of  the  stage.  This  moment  was  one  she  had 
longed  for  ever  since  the  decision  was  made  that 
Aunt  Margaret  should  bring  Violet  to  America, 
Phffibe  Glasgow  had  the  same  fine,  small  mouth, 
the  same  brown  hair  and  eyes  as  her  sister.  She 
was  dressed  now  in  white,  open  at  the  throat,  and 
the  light  of  anticipation  made  her  demure  face 
unwontedly  vivacious. 

At  last  the  plodding  horses  and  cumbrous  ve- 
hicle came  in  sight.  Plwebe  started  to  run  down 
the  steps,  but  restrained  herself  with  an  effort. 
The  big  stage  stopped,  two  ladies  dismounted,  and 
the  girl  could  hold  back  no  longer. 

Violet,  looking  up,  saw  a  white  figure  flit  be- 
hind the  vines  and  then  run  fleetly  down  the  steps, 
cool  and  fair  in  the  hot  August  sunshine. 

The  stage  rumbled  away.  "  I  '11  hold  all  the 
parcels,"  said  Mrs.  Jameson,  "  while  you  girls 
put  fourteen  years'  affection  into  one  hug." 

Violet  quite  forgot  her  doubts  and  fears  in  that 
moment  when  her  sister  held  her  in  her  arms.  It 
was  evident  that  in  Phoebe's  mind  no  forebodings 
had  mingled  with  anticipation.  As  the  latter  drew 
back,  her  eyes  were  bright  with  unshed  tears. 

"  Now,  come  in,"  said  Mrs.  Jameson  energeti- 
cally. "  You  have  too  much  to  say  to  each  other 
for  me  to  allow  a  beginning  out  here." 


104  A   FRANCO- AMERICAN 

Violet  kept  an  arm  about  her  sister  as  they 
ascended  the  steps.  She  felt  a  very  kindly  and 
affectionate  patronage  of  her. 

"  I  hope  you  mean  to  stay  in  this  country," 
said  Phoebe,  watching  and  listening  to  her  sister 
as  they  sat  at  lunch,  with  fond  wonder  at  and 
admiration  of  her  foreign  mannerisms.  "  Aunt 
Marion  charged  me  to  give  you  a  cordial  invita- 
tion to  make  a  long  visit  with  us." 

Violet  returned  her  look  with  a  perturbed  ex- 
pression. "  I  mean  to  keep  you  with  me  wherever 
I  go,  but  you  ask  me  to  make  a  long  stay  on  a 
farm?  Oh,"  with  a  winning  smile,  " come  off  !  " 

Phoebe  held  the  fork  which  was  about  to  convey 
salad  to  her  lips  poised  half  way,  and  turned  her 
astonished  gaze  from  her  sister  to  Mrs.  Jameson. 

"Aunt  Marion  is  very  kind,  of  course,  and  I 
want  to  see  her ;  but  it  is  good  that  you  could 
meet  me  here.  Which  are  you  going  to  be, 
Phoebe,  a  cadet-girl  or  an  officer-girl  ?  " 

"  Listen  to  the  child,"  laughed  Mrs.  Jameson. 
"  She  talks  the  jargon  of  the  place  already.  Oh, 
that  is  due  to  Mr.  Eames." 

Phoebe's  salad  reached  its  destination.  "  I 
shall  be  whichever  is  most  entertaining,  I  sup- 
pose," she  returned,  with  her  usual  quiet  self- 
possession. 

"Wise  maiden,"  remarked  her  cousin.  "To- 
morrow evening  you  will  try  to  be  cadet-girls,  for 
I  have  partners  for  you  both  for  the  hop." 


A   FRANCO-AMERICAN-  105 

"  You  are  very  thoughtful,  cousin  Belle,"  re- 
turned Phoebe.  "I  hope  you  are  not  going  to 
feel  a  care  of  entertaining  us,  for,  indeed,  we  shall 
find  it  delightful  enough  just  to  be  here." 

"  For  my  part,  I  wish  to  be  in  whatever  is  going 
on,"  said  Violet.  "  I  want  to  see  everything,  and 
I  want  to  do  everything  that  is  proper  —  Ameri- 
can-proper, I  mean.  I  want  to  be  in  the  swim." 

"  I  shall  nol^  feel  any  burden  of  entertaining 
you,"  replied  Mrs.  Jameson.  "  There  are  a  num- 
ber of  young  persons  who  will  take  that  off  my 
hands,  at  least  while  camp  lasts.  I  have  spoken 
to  my  girl  friends  ;  they  will  all  come  to  call  on 
you  presently." 

"  There  is  a  camp,  is  there  ? "  asked  Violet, 
looking  up,  with  interest.  "  Why,  it  must  be  a 
jolly  place." 

"  It  is  very  beautiful,"  said  Phoebe.  "  I  am 
sure  you  must  have  enjoyed  the  ride  up  the  river, 
even  though  you  have  se3ii  the  Rhine." 

"  Yes,  indeed.  The  banks  of  the  Rhine  are,  to 
my  mind,  disfigured  by  the  vineyards ;  and  I  do 
not  care  particularly  for  those  historical  castles. 
Oh,  yes,  I  don't  think  the  Rhine  is  in  it  with  the 
Hudson.  Why  do  you  stare  so,  Phoebe  ?  Have 
I  such  round,  shocked-looking  eyes  as  that,  cousin 
Belle?" 

"Excuse  me,"  said  Phoebe,  lowering  her  gaze 
and  coloring  slightly,  "  but  it  sounds  so  strange  to 
hear  you  use  such  expressions." 


106  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

"  Oh,  I  dare  say  they  are  new  to  you,  for  no 
doubt  a  farm  in  Berkshire  County  is  as  remote 
as  Paris  from  the  American  world's  speech.  Do 
you  know  how  to  dance,  Phoebe  ?  "  The  question 
was  added  rather  anxiously.  "For  perhaps  I 
could  teach  you  before  to-morrow  evening." 

Phoebe's  demure  little  mouth  smiled  at  her 
plate.  "I  think  I  can  get  along,  but  —  but  it 
is  n't  good  form  to  talk  slang,  Violet." 

Her  sister  laughed  merrily.  "  Not  to  Uncle 
Isaac's  cows  and  poultry,  I  daresay." 

Phoebe's  expressive  eyes  besought  their  hostess. 

"  It  is  not  good  form  anywhere,  my  dear,"  said 
Mrs.   Jameson  pleasantly.       "  I   am   afraid   that 
wretch  of  a  Dick  Eames  has  been  stuffing  you  — 
I  mean  —  oh,  horrors,  don't  look  at  me,  Phoebe !  " 

"  Stuffing  me  !  Is  n't  that  amusing  ?  "  said  Vio- 
let alertly. 

"  Not  in  the  least !  "  ejaculated  the  hostess.  "  It 
is  absurd.  Those  miserable  expressions  are  as  in- 
sidious as  they  are  hideous.  What  I  meant  to  say 
was  that  Mr.  Eames  had  been  gulling  you  —  amus- 
ing himself  by  teaching  you  Americanisms." 

"  No,  no,  he  did  n't.  Nobody  taught  me.  The 
men  on  board  talked  " 

"  Oh,  of  course  the  men  said  those  things." 

"  And  in  America  do  not  women  do  just  what 
men  do  ?  " 

"  Not  unless  they  wish  to  commit  social  sui- 
cide." 


A    FRANCO-AMERICAN  107 

Miss  Glasgow  laid  down  her  knife  and  fork  and 
looked  as  though  the  foundations  of  her  hostess' 
house  were  tottering. 

But  as  days  went  on,  and  she  discovered  the  (to 
her)  unaccustomed  latitude  allowed  the  young  girls 
about  her,  her  spirits  rose.  She  entered  into  the 
daily  routine  of  the  post  life  with  a  zest  which  her 
sister  in  part  shared.  She  found  that  Phoebe's 
clothes  were  unobtrusive  and  sufficiently  fashiona- 
ble, and  enjoyed  bestowing  upon  her  lavishly  from 
her  own  wardrobe.  But  the  patronage  she  had 
expected  to  feel  toward  Phoebe  vanished.  The  lat- 
ter was  a  girl,  she  decided,  without  much  fun  in 
her,  but  the  innate  dignity  and  natural  self-posses- 
sion of  her  sister  elicited  her  admiration.  More- 
over, she  learned  by  degrees  that  Phoebe  was  care- 
fully educated,  and  had  by  no  means  spent  her  life 
in  a  narrow  place.  She  even  felt  a  h'ttle  awe  of 
her  twin,  whose  serious,  surprised  gaze  seemed 
sometimes  a  rebuke. 

On  the  evening  of  the  annual  illumination  of 
camp,  the  baud  was  playing  on  the  green  when 
Lieutenant  and  Mrs.  Jameson  and  their  girls  passed 
under  the  Chinese  lanterns  swinging  from  an  arch 
in  front  of  the  tents.  Poles  were  everywhere 
twined  with  colored  paper.  At  the  front  of  the 
general  parade  a  well -grown  kitten  slumbered 
peacefully  in  .a  small  wire  cage,  before  and  behind 
which  burned  rows  of  candles,  whose  warmth  was 
apparently  agreeable  to  the  animal.  The  tents,  all 


108  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

well-lighted,  were  decorated  with  chains  of  bell- 
buttons,  caricatures,  and  illuminated  texts,  which 
affably  assured  the  visitor  that  Huyler's  best  would 
not  be  unwelcome  as  a  free-will  offering.  Gay 
lanterns  burned  wherever  one  could  be  hung,  while 
stacked  guns  and  draped  or  flying  flags  enlivened 
the  scene. 

Beside  the  kitten's  cage  Violet  greeted  the  cadet 
whom  she  had  promised  to  meet,  and  Phoebe  walked 
on  with  her  cousin.  Stopping  to  laugh  at  or  ad- 
mire one  and  another  evidence  of  cadet  ingenuity, 
the  party  soon  became  separated. 

Phoebe  stopped  near  an  officer's  tent  to  look  at  a 
large  charcoal  sketch  of  the  superintendent,  exe- 
cuted by  a  clever  hand,  and  the  Jamesons  strolled 
on.  She  was  just  glancing  ahead  and  thinking 
she  must  hasten  when  a  hearty  voice  greeted 
her. 

"  Good  evening,  Miss  Glasgow.  I  felt  sure  I 
should  find  you  if  I  patrolled  the  streets  systemat- 
ically. Well,  how  is  it  ?  Do  the  stars  and  stripes 
meet  your  expectations  ?  And  how  about  your  sis- 
ter ?  Did  it  prove  that  the  Hayseed  family  have 
formed  her  on  their  pattern  ?  " 

Phoebe  looked  up,  at  first  surprised.  Before 
Eames  had  finished  she  recognized  his  identity,  for 
Violet  and  Mrs.  Jameson  had  referred  several 
times  to  the  officer  whose  acquaintance  the  former 
had  made  this  summer,  and  who  returned  with  her 
on  the  boat.  Until  his  closing  question  the  girl's 


A   FRANCO- AMERICAN  109 

only  thought  was  to  undeceive  him  as  consider- 
ately as  possible,  but  the  implication  surprised  her. 
The  hot  blood  flew  to  her  cheeks,  and  mechanically 
she  moved  on  slowly,  Eames  keeping  step  with  her. 
Mrs.  Jameson,  looking  back,  saw  in  the  dimly 
lighted  street  that  an  officer  had  joined  her  cousin, 
and  went  on  her  way. 

"  Did  I  really  give  you  cause  to  speak  in  that 
manner  of  my  sister  ?  "  asked  Phoabe. 

"  Ah,  I  see.  The  reality  has  proved  so  contrary 
to  your  expectations  that  you  are  surprised  to  re- 
member your  doubts.  I  suppose  you  and  your 
sister  are,  after  all,  two  hearts  that  beat  as  one." 

"  I  can  scarcely  say  that.  We  are  fond  of  each 
other,  but  we  are  —  well,  different." 

"  Indeed  ?  And  how  is  your  slang  vocabulary 
progressing  ?  If  you  add  the  West  Point  localisms 
to  your  '  sabre-cuts  of  Saxon  speech  '  you  will  be 
well  equipped." 

Phoebe  looked  at  her  companion  closely.  She 
liked  his  face  as  far  as  she  could  see  it  in  the  half 
light,  and  his  voice  was  pleasant  and  honest. 

"  Do  you  know,"  she  said  seriously,  "  I  think  it 
was  not  at  all  friendly  of  you  not  to  tell  me  that 
nice  American  girls  do  not  use  slang." 

"  Why  —  why  "  -  hesitated  Eames,  surprised 
and  crestfallen,  "  some  of  them  do." 

"  Do  you  admire  them  more  for  it  ?  " 

"Well  —  no." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  said  Phoebe  reflectively,  "  a 


110  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

perfect  wonder  that  men  should  not  be  more 
friendly  to  women." 

Lieutenant  Eames  felt  vaguely  uncomfortable, 
and  cleared  his  throat  with  very  little  idea  what 
words  of  wisdom  he  was  preparing  the  way  for. 

"  Why  does  a  man  always  think  that  it  is  per- 
fectly legitimate  for  him  to  get  all  the  amusement 
out  of  a  girl  that  he  can  ?  "  pursued  his  compan- 
ion. 

"  Oh,  come  now,  you  know  that  women  get 
even  with  us  there,"  said  Eames,  in  an  injured 
tone. 

Miss  Glasgow's  conscience  here  made  a  little  re- 
mark, but  she  silenced  it. 

"  They  have  learned  to  make  the  most  of  such 
opportunities  as  they  find  here  and  there,"  she  re- 
sponded ;  "  but  they  should  draw  the  line  at  their 
own  sex.  I  am  ashamed  to  think  I  —  ridiculed  my 
sister  to  you !  " 

"You  didn't;  you  did  n't,"  responded  Eames 
hastily,  made  remorseful  by  her  tone.  "  You  must 
know  that  nothing  you  said  gave  me  the  right  to 
make  my  poor  joke.  It  was  a  poor  one ;  mine 
usually  are.  I  only  meant  to  tease  you  a  little. 
Pray  forgive  me." 

"  WeD,"  murmured  Phoabe,  comforted,  "  I  am 
glad."  A  brief  silence  fell  between  them,  during 
which  she  considered  the  best  means  of  revealing 
herself  to  her  companion ;  but  while  she  was  hesi- 
tating he  spoke  in  a  changed  tone. 


A   FRANCO-AMERICAN  111 

"  When  we  were  on  board  ship,  Miss  Glasgow, 
I  was  not  in  a  condition  to  give  you  advice  of  any 
kind.  I  have  been  affected  by  you  in  a  strange 
manner  from  the  day  we  first  met.  My  feeling 
did  n't  seem  reasonable,  and  I  have  been  trying  to 
understand  it.  For  the  last  two  weeks  I  have 
been  broiling  in  the  city  instead  of  coming  up  here, 
simply  in  order  to  think  it  out ;  and  there  is  no 
longer  any  doubt " 

"  Oh  !  "  interrupted  Phoebe  breathlessly. 

— "  that  there  can  never  be  any  peace  for  me 
until  I  tell  you  how  I  love  you,  how  " 

"  Oh,  oh,  how  dreadful !  "  Phoebe  stood  mo- 
tionless in  the  deserted  spot  they  had  reached, 
and  her  soft  tone  of  horror  caused  her  companion 
to  retreat  a  step. 

"  How  can  I  ever  confess !  "  she  exclaimed. 
"  Violet  never  said  —  oh,  believe  me,  I "  She 

paused,  and  Eames  regarded  the  bent  head  and 
tightly  clasped  hands  with  bewilderment. 

"  Ah !  "  he  said  at  last,  with  a  short,  sharp 
breath.  Then  he  lifted  his  cap  formally.  "  I  am 
not  quickwitted,  as  my  friends  occasionally  remind 
me,  but  I  believe  I  understand  you.  You  must 
be"- 

"  Miss  Hayseed,  yes,"  said  Phoebe  meekly. 

Meanwhile,  Violet,  escorted  by  a  cadet  lieuten- 
ant, had  wandered  up  one  street  and  down  an- 
other, inspecting  everything,  asking  questions,  and 
prattling  volubly  in  the  manner  which  made  her 


112  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

popular  in  the  corps ;  for  if  there  is  one  being 
who  more  than  another  appreciates  being  saved 
the  trouble  of  conversing  it  is  a  cadet  in  the 
U.  S.  M.  A. 

They  were  passing  the  charcoal  sketch  of  the 
superintendent  when  Violet  discovered  that  she  had 
dropped  her  handkerchief. 

"  I  know  where  it  is,"  said  her  companion.  "  No 
doubt  you  dropped  it  there  in  the  tent  where 
you  were  handling  the  rifles.  I  '11  get  it  in  a 
second." 

He  ran  back,  and  Violet  waited,  regarding  idly 
the  heroic  size  of  the  features  on  the  tall  stretcher 
behind  whose  screen  she  suddenly  heard  voices. 

"  I  don't  care,  she  is  an  awfully  jolly  girl,"  said 
a  masculine  voice. 

"  Yes,  of  course,"  responded  a  scornful  treble. 
Violet  recognized  the  speakers  as  a  cadet  whom 
she  knew,  and  his  sister.  "  I  know  it  is  very  flat- 
tering when  a  girl  rolls  up  her  eyes  at  you  men, 
and  asks  you  if  things  are  '  proper.'  It  is  very 
novel  and  pleasant  for  you,  no  doubt,  to  decide 
what  the  bounds  shall  be." 

"  Now  look  out,  Jenny,  Miss  Glasgow  is  all 
right." 

"  Of  course  she  is.  How  could  any  girl  fail  to 
be  '  all  right '  whose  conduct  is  prescribed  by  the 
corps  of  cadets  !  I  suppose  those  confiding  little 
questions  of  hers  as  to  propriety  could  never  be 
worn  thin  to  you.  What  folly  !  As  though  any- 


A   FRANCO-AMERICAN  113 

body  with  common  sense  did  not  know  that  nice 
girls  are  nice  girls  the  world  over,  and  if  they  hap- 
pen to  live  in  a  civilized  part  of  it  they  are  guarded 
with  a  decent  amount  of  conventionality.  It  is 
all  affectation  on  Miss  Glasgow's  part  for  the  sake 
of  giving  and  taking  a  little  more  license  than  the 
rest  of  us,  and  managing  at  the  same  time  to  retain 
your  respect." 

"  Now  let  up,"  protested  the  other  voice,  sound- 
ing fainter  as  the  couple  moved  away.  "Just 
because  she  is  prettier  and  jollier  " 

"  Here  it  is,"  called  Violet's  emissary,  waving 
the  handkerchief  as  he  approached ;  then  more 
softly,  "  I  think  you  might  give  it  to  me  for  my 
trouble." 

"  No,  please,"  replied  the  girl  with  pale  lips, 
taking  the  bit  of  lawn.  "  Do  you  think  we  could 
find  Mrs.  Jameson  ?  I  am  ill ;  I  want  to  go 
home." 

They  moved  to  the  spot  where  the  crowd  was 
greatest,  and  all  at  once  were  confronted  by  a  tall 
officer  of  artillery,  at  sight  of  whom  Violet  gave  a 
start. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Eames ! "  she  exclaimed,  stretching 
out  her  hand  involuntarily.  •  "  Could  you  —  would 
you  take  me  home  ?  " 

"  Certainly." 

Violet  thanked  her  companion  hastily,  but  cour- 
teously, and  moved  away  with  the  officer.  "  Let 
us  get  out  of  the  light,"  she  said. 


114  A   FRANCO-AMERICAN 

"  What  is  the  matter  ?" 

"  I  am  ill,  disgusted.  Everything  is  the  matter. 
Oh,  how  glad  I  was  to  see  you ! " 

"That  is  good  to  hear.  Well,  you  have  dis- 
covered America." 

"Yes,  and  I  have  discovered  more  than  that. 
I  have  learned  that  a  nice  girl  is  a  nice  girl  the 
world  over,  and  that  men  and  women  can't  be 
friends  anywhere.  There  is  a  neutral  ground 
where  they  may  safely  meet,  but  it  is  a  narrow 
strip,  as  narrow  here  as  it  is  in  France.  When 
did  you  arrive  ?  " 

"  A  few  hours  ago,  but  I  have  already  heard  of 
your  success  as  a  cadet-girl." 

"  Don't  call  me  that.     I  am  through." 

"  It  is  the  officers'  turn,  then.  I  am  glad  of 
it.  What  do  you  suppose  I  have  been  doing  this 
evening  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  guess." 

They  were  sauntering  across  the  cavalry  plain 
in  the  direction  of  the  Jamesons'  quarters,  and  in 
the  darkness  Violet  had  accepted  the  lieutenant's 
offered  arm. 

"  I  have  been  making  love  to  your  sister." 

"  To  Phoebe  !  "  in  sharp  surprise.  Violet  felt 
as  though  a  cold  hand  were  laid  on  her  sore  heart. 
"  But  she  is  already  engaged ;  and  is  that  consid- 
ered proper  ?  " 

"I  gave  her  to  understand  that  I  wanted  to 
marry  her.  I  did  not  know  she  was  engaged,  but 


A   FRANCO-AMERICAN  115 

had  I  known  it  I  am  afraid  I  should  have  done 
the  same  thing." 

Silence. 

"  Well,  why  don't  you  make  some  comment, 
Violet?" 

"•  I  do  not  understand  you  Americans,"  she 
answered,  sighing  wearily.  "  Won't  you  walk  a 
little  faster,  please  ?  " 

"  Cannot  you  guess  how  I  came  to  tell  your  sis- 
ter that  I  loved  her  ?  " 

"  Oh  —  why  "  —  faintly,  and  with  long  pauses, 
"  don't  hurry  quite  so  fast,  please." 

"  I  took  her  for  you.  Can  you  ever  forgive  me 
for  being  such  a  bungler  ?  " 

"  It  is  n't  your  fault  that  I  have  a  twin  sister," 
said  the  girl  softly. 

"Violet!" 

"  No,  no,  don't  do  that.  I  must  think.  A  few 
minutes  ago  I  meant  to  go  back  to  France  and 
marry  the  man  I  have  never  seen.  I  wanted  to  be 
as  French  as  possible." 

"  But  that  would  condemn  one  man  you  have 
seen  to  utter  misery.  Think  again,  darling !  " 

"  I  have  dreamed  about  you  every  night  since  I 
landed,"  admitted  the  girl  slowly,  "  but  —  Oh, 
Mr.  Eames,"  she  added  breathlessly,  as  he  suddenly 
took  her  in  his  arms  under  the  shadow  of  a  huge 
elm,  "  is  this  prop — 


THE   CADET   CAPTAIN'S    EXPERIMENT 

"You  know  very  well  that  we  shall  have  to  in- 
vite Ellen  Day  here  sometime,  and  what  is  the 
use  of  postponing  it  ?  " 

Mrs.  Burritt  looked  over  toward  the  window 
where  her  daughter  stood  drumming  on  the  glass, 
an  impatient  cloud  on  her  face. 

"  I  fail  entirely  to  see  why  it  is  necessary,"  re- 
turned Miss  Burritt  obstinately. 

"  Your  other  girl  relatives  have  ail  been  here. 
Ellen's  mother  knows  it  well  enough,  you  may  be 
sure ;  and,  by  pure  contrariness,  your  father  never 
forgets  about  this  matter,  although  he  usually  is 
so  indifferent.  He  keeps  at  me  on  the  subject, 
and  I  do  wish,  Daisy,  you  would  make  up  your 
mind  to  consent  and  let  us  send  the  invitation,  and 
have  it  over  with." 

Miss  Burritt,  cetat  nineteen,  was  so  supremely 
satisfied  with  her  lot  as  the  good-looking  daughter 
of  a  West  Point  professor,  that  she  dreaded  an 
added  responsibility  which  brought  no  glory  with 
it.  She  continued  to  gaze  down  on  the  stately 
river  flowing  far  below  her. 

"  West  Point  is  no  place  for  country  cousins," 
she  replied. 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT       117 

"  You  might  say  that  to  your  father,"  suggested 
Mrs.  Burritt  sarcastically.  "  No,  Daisy,  your 
obstinacy  in  this  matter  is  exasperatingly  selfish. 
We  've  talked  this  over  often,  and  you  always  put 
me  off.  I  tell  you,  I  'm  tired  of  being  nagged  at 
by  your  father  and  resisted  by  you." 

Miss  Burritt's  lip  curled. 

"  The  idea  of  having  to  drag  about  with  one 
a  girl  from  the  cross-roads,  who  can't  dance  and 
can't  talk  and  has  no  style !  The  idea  of  having 
to  introduce  her  as  one  of  the  family !  " 

"  Pshaw !  As  if  you  never  need  make  a  sacri- 
fice !  I  think  you  can  stand  it  for  two  weeks. 
You  know  you  would  n't  dare  say  one  word  to 
your  father  of  what  you  are  saying  to  me,  and  you 
think  it 's  nothing  that  I  have  to  fix  up  excuses 
and  put  him  off  time  after  time.  Ellen's  mother 
being  his  only  sister,  he  wants  to  pay  her  proper 
attention,  and,  in  fact,  he  is  very  fond  of  her.  It 
is  lucky  for  us  that  family  cares  tie  her  down,  or 
I  know  he  would  want  her  to  be  with  us  the  whole 
summer." 

"  How  pleasant  it  will  be  to  have  Ellen  appear 
here  in  my  old  clothes  made  over !  Blanche  Bar- 
stow  would  recognize  them  instantly." 

"  Well,  now,  don't  borrow  so  much  trouble. 
Perhaps  everything  would  go  very  pleasantly." 

"  Imagine  Mr.  Lorimer  and  Mr.  Deering  trying 
to  talk  to  that  sort  of  a  girl !  "  pursued  Miss  Bur- 
ritt disdainfully. 


118       THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

"  Oh,  she  need  n't  have  much  to  do  with  the 
cadets,"  returned  her  mother  soothingly.  "  She 
would  feel  too  shy  and  strange,  anyway.  She  will 
enjoy  seeing  guard  mount  and  parade,  and  life  as  it 
goes  on  here,  and  it  would  soon  be  over.  You" 

Here  both  mother  and  daughter  started,  for 
Colonel  Burritt  suddenly  entered  the  room.  He 
was  a  large  man,  of  soldierly  carriage,  and  his 
direct  glance  now  had  a  firmness  and  determina- 
tion before  which  his  wife  and  child  were  silent. 
He  held  an  open  letter  in  his  hand. 

"  Here,  Margaret,"  he  said  to  his  wife,  "  before 
the  house  gets  filled  up  with  any  more  guests,  I 
want  to  have  Ellen  Day  here.  I  've  written  to 
her  mother  to  let  her  come  right  along.  I  'd  like 
you  to  add  a  few  words,  and  if  Daisy  feels  like 
doing  so  too,  so  much  the  better.  We  want  to 
make  her  feel  a  warm  welcome  in  advance,  for 
most  likely  the  little  girl  is  shy." 

Well  for  the  colonel  that  as  he  strode  out  of 
his  house  and  closed  the  door  behind  him,  he  did 
not  suspect  the  unfilial  sentiments  swelling  the 
breast  of  his  only  child. 

"  There,  now,  we  can't  help  it,"  declared  Mrs. 
Burritt  in  resigned  tones.  "  There  is  one  possi- 
bility that  you  don't  seem  to  consider.  Ellen  may 
decline." 

"  Any  girl  who  gets  the  opportunity  to  visit  the 
Point  in  summer,  decline  ?  I  think  not !  "  replied 
Daisy. 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT       119 

And,  indeed,  Ellen  Day  never  considered  de- 
clining. The  cordial  letter  from  Colonel  Burritt, 
with  its  civil  postscript,  brought  rejoicing  into  the 
little  hamlet  of  Burritt ville,  where  it  was  received. 
Happy,  though  care-laden,  Mrs.  Day  willingly 
gave  up  her  chief  helper  in  order  that  Ellen  might 
have  such  a  holiday,  and  soon  it  was  known 
throughout  the  village  that  the  girl  was  going  to 
West  Point. 

The  local  dressmaker,  bosom  friend  to  every- 
body, was  called  in  to  help  on  the  slender  wardrobe. 

"  I  suppose  I  had  better  not  take  anything  that 
was  Daisy's,  and  it  does  n't  leave  me  much,"  said 
Ellen  doubtfully. 

She  had  never  paid  much  attention  to  clothes, 
for  the  best  of  reasons.  Each  one  of  her  gowns 
had  always  been  a  matter  which  "  Hobson's  choice," 
not  her  own,  decided,  and  that  state  of  things  hav- 
ing obtained  through  all  her  twenty  years  of  life, 
whatever  instinct  for  attractive  plumage  she  might 
have  developed  had  early  been  inhibited. 

Her  figure  was  thin  and  commonplace,  and  so 
was  her  face,  but  for  its  intelligence.  Her  gray 
eyes  held  a  charming  expression  of  good  humor 
and  comprehension,  and  her  sound  white  teeth 
were  easily  displayed  in  ready  smiles.  She  dressed 
her  straight  brown  hair  with  the  one  and  sole 
object  of  getting  it  out  of  the  way,  and  as  she 
looked  at  her  gowns  now  with  Miss  Bascom,  her 
thin  face  serious  over  the  troublesome  question  of 


120      THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

ways  and  means,  the  dressmaker  picked  her  teeth 
with  a  needle,  and  wished  that  for  the  circum- 
stances' sake,  Ellen  Day  had  been  born  prettier. 

"  They  're  a  dreadful  gay  set  up  there,"  said 
Miss  Bascom  decidedly.  "  So  I  've  always  heard. 
You  must  have  one  white  muslin." 

"  But  how  can  I  ?  "  Something  beside  doubt 
in  Ellen's  tone  made  Miss  Bascom's  eyes  snap. 

"  You  must  think  of  a  way !  "  she  said  firmly. 
"  I  may  get  you  out  a  black  skirt  with  these 
things,  and  we  can  make  shirt  waists ;  but  you 
must  have  one  party  dress.  Now,  you  know  very 
well  if  't  was  a  book  you  needed  instead  o'  book 
muslin,  you  'd  manage  to  get  it." 

The  girl  smiled.  "  Don't  you  think  this  brown 
and  white  organdie  "-  —  she  began  hopefully. 

"  No,  I  dont.  'T  won't  do  at  all.  You  're 
goin'  there  to  your  uncle's  elegant  house,  with  the 
aristocracy  o'  the  land  just  swarmin'  around.  Do 
you  think  that  old  faded  organdie  would  go  well 
with  gold  epaulets  ?  No,  sir  !  You  've  got  to 
have  a  white  muslin.  Your  mother  's  told  me 
how  you  read  and  study  nights.  Now,  honestly, 
ain't  you  savin'  up  money  for  something  ?  " 

The  shrewd  though  random  question  struck 
home.  Ellen  colored. 

"  You  are ! "  exclaimed  Miss  Bascom  in  tri- 
umph. 

"  There  is  such  a  good,  cheap  encyclopaedia  ad- 
vertised " — 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT       121 

"  Encyclo-fiddlesticks  !  "  ejaculated  the  village 
oracle.  "  What  '11  you  care  for  such  things  when 
you  are  an  officer's  wife  ?  You  fetch  that  money 
right  off,  Ellen  Day,  and  I  '11  see  what  we  can 
do." 

So  Ellen  meekly  watched  her  slowly  saved  dol- 
lars, earned  by  teaching  and  egg-selling,  turn  into 
white  muslin  and  ribbon,  a  hat  and  a  pair  of 
gloves,  and  amid  highly  colored  pictures  of  future 
triumphs  and  joys  drawn  by  her  interested  friends, 
she  at  last  set  off  for  that  paradise  on  the  Hudson 
which  has  been  the  goal  of  so  many  more  sophisti- 
cated girls. 

Colonel  Burritt  and  Daisy  were  at  the  dock  to 
meet  her  on  the  arrival  of  her  boat,  and  the  heart 
of  fastidious  Miss  Burritt  sank  within  her  as 
happy  Ellen  crossed  the  gang-plank.  Her  turban 
hat  was  unbecoming  to  her  broad,  bare  forehead, 
her  large  waist  and  styleless  bodice  were  an  afflic- 
tion to  which  her  glad  countenance  lent  the  last 
exasperating  touch. 

Ellen  was  full  of  her  trip.  The  splendid  scen- 
ery of  the  river,  the  novel  pleasure  of  the  good 
orchestra  on  the  boat,  had  ministered  to  her  very 
soul. 

Her  uncle's  hearty  greeting  concealed  all  defi- 
ciencies in  Daisy's  manner,  and  the  visitor  was 
kept  busy  all  the  way  to  the  house  answering  his 
interested  questions. 

"  Oh,  Aunt  Margaret,  what  a  beautiful  place 


122       THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

you  live  in  ! "  she  exclaimed,  when  Mrs.  Burritt 
met  her  at  the  door,  for  her  eyes  had  been  busy 
on  the  drive  up  the  hill  and  along  the  road  that 
sweeps  under  the  great  trees  about  "  Professors' 
Eow." 

"  A  regular  aborigine ;  just  exactly  what  I 
expected,"  said  Daisy  to  her  mother  as  soon  as 
they  were  alone. 

"  But  how  happy  she  is  ! "  returned  Mrs.  Bur- 
ritt, who  had  been  somewhat  touched  by  the  joy 
in  the  plain  girlish  face. 

"  I  simply  can't  stand  that  turban  !  "  said  Daisy 
with  set  lips.  "  My  sailor  hat  of  last  summer 
would  look  infinitely  better.  I  shall  give  it  to 
her." 

"  Look  out  you  don't  hurt  her  feelings." 

"  I  don't  think  she  has  any,  by  her  looks.  She 's 
hideously  self-satisfied." 

And  when  Miss  Burritt  carried  out  her  threat, 
which  she  did  on  that  first  day,  Ellen  received  the 
suggestion  and  the  gift  with  much  good  humor. 

"  There  is  a  little  shade  in  sailor  hats.  One 
really  needs  them  here,"  said  Daisy ;  and  her 
cousin  thanked  her,  still  in  the  first  flush  of  her 
happy  arrival,  and  full  of  gratitude  for  her  good 
fortune. 

There  were  poetical  and  artistic  thoughts  in 
plenty  behind  the  intellectual  forehead  which  so 
aroused  Daisy  Burritt's  disapproval,  and  the  natu- 
ral beauties  of  the  post  gave  Ellen  deep  pleasure. 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT       123 

She  could  scarcely  go  to  bed  on  that  first  even- 
ing for  the  fascination  of  the  scene  from  her 
window.  Shadows  lay  athwart  the  noble,  moon- 
lit plain  ;  glimpses  of  the  lights  of  pleasure-boats 
on  the  river  occasionally  slipped  into  view. 
Rounded  battlements  of  the  barracks  rose  castle- 
like  behind  great  trees,  and  the  band  played  for 
an  hour  sentimental  and  vivacious  selections,  at 
some  point  invisible,  but  close  by  thQ  Burritt 
house. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  plain  a  village  of 
tents  showed  the  encampment  of  the  corps  of 
cadets.  Ellen  had  already  seen  specimens  of  these 
white-trousered  and  gray-coated  youths  moving 
about  on  pleasure  or  business  intent,  but  they 
had  not  aroused  her  interest  in  any  degree.  What 
she  yearned  for  was  to  accept  the  entrancing  invi- 
tation of  those  mighty  hills.  Oh,  to  have  the 
freedom  of  this  lovely  place,  answerable  to  no  one, 
and  with  no  need  to  meet  and  mix  with  strangers 
who  were  not  of  her  world ! 

Daisy  had  been  very  kind ;  she  had  so  willingly 
excused  her  from  going  to  parade  that  afternoon, 
leaving  her  alone  to  the  unpacking  of  her  little 
trunk,  which  Ellen  accomplished  with  frequent 
rushes  to  the  window  to  admire  the  riotous  roses 
and  honeysuckle,  and  the  close,  rich  ivy,  which 
seemed  to  have  been  growing  about  the  place  for 
generations. 

She  would  never  forget  that  first  night  at  West 


124      THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

Point,  with  the  vivacious  strains  of  tattoo,  and  at 
last  the  plaintive  tones  that  sounded  solemnly 
sweet  across  the  wide  plain  as  the  bugles  played 
taps.  She  knew  the  name  of  nothing-,  the  mean- 
ing of  nothing,  but  it  was  all  part  of  a  rich,  beau- 
tiful whole,  alluring  to  the  vague  fancies  of  a 
studious  country  girl ;  and  the  reveille  gun  the 
next  morning  woke  her  with  a  tingle  of  pleasure 
that  a  long,  sweet  day  was  before  her. 

Colonel  Burritt  warmed  her  heart  with  a  sound- 
ing kiss  when  she  came  down  to  a  good  breakfast, 
which  —  novel  experience  —  she  had  had  no  hand 
in  preparing. 

"  We  are  early  birds,"  he  said.  "  It  suits  me, 
and  Daisy  won't  miss  guard  mount  whether  she 
does  breakfast  or  not.  You  did  n't  go  to  parade 
yesterday.  Very  well ;  we  '11  take  you  over  to 
guard  mount.  It  won't  do  for  you  to  waste  any 
more  time  before  catching  the  cadet  fever." 

"Thank  you,  Uncle  John.  Do  you  mean  a 
fever  about  those  boys  in  gray  coats  ?  " 

"  Certainly,  my  girl." 

She  smiled  pleasantly.  "  That  sounds  funny, 
does  n't  it?" 

Colonel  Burritt' s  hearty  laugh  waked  the  echoes. 
Here  was  a  new  sort  of  girl  come  to  visit  the 
United  States  Military  Academy ;  but  her  igno- 
rance would  not  last. 

They  had  a  happy  breakfast  together.  Mrs. 
Burritt  had  no  use  for  the  world  at  7.30  A.  M., 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT       125 

and  Daisy  only  came  down  in  time  to  take  a  cup 
of  coffee  standing,  while  the  strains  of  "  The  Star 
Spangled  Banner  "  came  across  the  plain.  Yester- 
day Cadet  Francis  Loriiner  had  performed  a  tour 
of  guard  duty.  He  would  come  off  duty  this  morn- 
ing. Daisy  had  an  idea  that  Blanche  Barstow, 
the  commandant's  daughter,  intended  to  engross 
Mr.  Lorimer's  "  old  guard  privileges,"  and  she 
was  more  willing  to  exert  herself  for  this  young 
cadet  captain  than  for  any  other  man  in  the  corps, 
not  excepting  the  adjutant. 

She  cast  furtive  and  long-suffering  glances  at  her 
cousin,  and  wished  the  collar  and  cuffs  of  her  shirt 
waist  boasted  more  starch ;  but  then  there  were  so 
many  unsatisfactory  points  in  Ellen's  costume,  the 
only  efficient  method  of  dealing  with  the  problem 
would  be  to  ship  the  girl  herself  back  to  Burritt- 
ville,  and  this  for  the  present  was  entirely  im- 
practicable. Daisy  noticed  in  bitterness  of  spirit 
how  well  pleased  her  father  appeared  with  his 
niece. 

Troop  parade  was  over,  and  the  other  enig- 
matical but  interesting  military  ceremonies  of  the 
morning  had  just  begun  when  they  arrived  in  camp, 
and  Ellen's  bright  mind  began  at  once  to  take  in 
a  totally  novel  charm. 

Pretty  girls  had  gathered  from  the  neighboring 
hotel ;  girls  in  smart,  crisp  morning  costume  like 
Daisy's  own.  Everybody  knew  everybody  else. 
Cadets  in  fleckless  uniform  and  with  assured  society 


126       THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

manners  greeted  these  girls  gayly,  only  a  few 
people  paying  any  attention  to  the  ceremony  of 
guard  mount  going  on  on  the  plain  before  the 
tents. 

Colonel  Burritt  took  his  niece  to  one  of  the  tree- 
shaded  iron  seats  whence  she  could  look  down  the 
clean  company  streets  of  camp,  and  he  explained 
to  her  a  little  of  what  she  was  seeing,  while  she 
listened  and  looked  in  admiring  wonder. 

One  young  man,  his  gray  decked  with  crimson 
and  gold,  and  his  walk  quite  the  perfection  of 
military  locomotion,  moved  out  upon  the  plain 
before  the  cadet  privates,  who  stood  waiting  in 
ranks.  He  lifted  his  white-gloved  hand,  and  obedi- 
ently the  band  burst  forth  into  martial  music. 

Ellen  wondered  who  this  potentate  might  be,  and 
asked. 

"  That 's  Deering,  the  adjutant.  If  you  notice 
the  shape  of  the  chevrons  on  his  sleeve,  you  will 
know  him  anywhere." 

Here  another  gorgeous  cadet  officer  in  full  dress, 
a  captain,  came  unofficially  upon  the  scene. 

"There  is  the  officer  of  the  day,"  said  the 
colonel. 

The  young  man  stepped  up  to  Miss  Burritt, 
plumed  hat  in  hand,  and  greeted  her. 

"  Here,  Daisy."  The  colonel  spoke  over  his 
shoulder.  He  had  begun  to  reproach  his  daughter 
mentally  for  chattering  with  her  friends,  in  total 
forgetf ulness  of  Ellen.  "  Good  morning,  Maverick. 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      127 

Come  here ;  I  want  to  introduce  you  to  my  niece, 
Miss  Day." 

The  cadet  hurried  forward,  and  the  sun  glittered 
from  his  golden  buttons,  chevrons,  and  sword,  and 
shone  in  the  crimson  silk  of  the  sash  knotted  on 
his  hip.  He  bowed  before  Ellen. 

"  Delighted,  I  'm  sure,"  said  the  young  man,  with 
an  air  totally  foreign  to  Miss  Day's  experience. 

She  was  not  obliged  to  attempt  what  to  her 
seemed  the  impossible  in  making  conversation  with 
him,  for  his  duties  called  him  out  upon  the  field, 
where  he  took  up  his  position  with  folded  arms. 

Near  him  stood  now  another  cadet  in  precisely 
the  same  uniform  and  attitude,  excepting  that  his 
white  trousers  lacked  the  unwrinkled  freshness  of 
Mr.  Maverick's. 

Daisy's  friend,  Miss  Barstow,  had  joined  her  and 
had  been  introduced  to  Miss  Day,  after  which  the 
two  girls  talked  together  in  what  was  to  Ellen  an 
unknown  tongue.  She  gathered,  however,  that 
this  new  cadet's  name  was  Lorimer,  and  that  he 
had  for  the  past  twenty-four  hours  been  on  duty 
and  was  shortly  to  be  released. 

"  Yes,  he  's  the  retiring  officer  of  the  day,"  re- 
plied Colonel  Burritt  to  her  question.  "  Now,  see1, 
they  are  going  to  pass  the  guard  in  review." 

As  he  spoke,  the  two  cadets  removed  their 
plumed  hats,  and  the  gray  and  white  guard  marched 
by,  their  officers  saluting.  The  band  played  gayly. 
Ellen  felt  thrilled  by  the  martial  spirit  in  the  air. 


128        THE   CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

When  all  was  over,  Mr.  Lorimer,  an  extremely 
good-looking  young  fellow,  came  back  under  the 
trees  to  meet  his  friends. 

Miss  Day  had  already  noted  the  popularity  of 
her  cousin,  who  ever  since  her  advent  in  camp  had 
held  continual  court.  It  seemed  quite  natural  that 
now  the  dignified  countenance  of  the  dark-eyed 
young  captain  should  brighten  as  he  approached 
her. 

Daisy,  after  receiving  certain  glances  from  her 
father,  had  been  introducing  to  Ellen  every  mili- 
tary youth  and  summer  girl  who  joined  her,  and 
now  she  presented  Mr.  Lorimer. 

Miss  Day  looked  up  at  him  with  earnest,  clear 
eyes. 

"  This  is  the  most  interesting  place  I  ever  saw," 
she  said. 

It  was  the  first  remark  she  had  volunteered  to 
one  of  these  strangers,  and  Miss  Burritt  laid  it  to 
the  beaux  yeux  of  her  pet  cadet,  and  sighed  im- 
patiently. 

But  Colonel  Burritt  had  just  risen  and  moved 
away,  and  Ellen,  thirsting  for  knowledge,  spoke  to 
this  young  man  for  that  reason.  This  being  his 
fourth  summer  at  the  post,  Lorimer  had  seen  a 
number  of  feminine  novices  in  the  first  flush  of 
their  pleasure,  but  seldom  one  so  poorly  equipped 
for  the  subjugation  of  the  youthful  military  heart 
as  this  one.  She  was  Miss  Burritt's  cousin,  how- 
ever, and  he  gave  her  a  genial  and  responsive  look, 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      129 

such  as  fell  only  upon  a  favored  few  from  this 
social  autocrat  of  his  class. 

"  I  'ra  glad  the  post  pleases  you,  Miss  Day. 
Miss  Burritt  should  not  introduce  me  to  any  one 
in  my  present  seedy  condition.  Guard  duty  is  my 
apology." 

"  I  am  too  bewildered  and  fascinated  to  be 
critical,"  returned  Ellen. 

"  "Well,"  gasped  Daisy,  who  was  listening,  ap- 
prehensive of  some  gaucherie. 

"Would  you  mind  telling  me,  Mr.  Lorimer, 
why  you  did  n't  salute  my  uncle  as  you  came  up  ? 
I  have  been  sitting  here,  watching  every  cadet 
salute  him,  even  when  passing  distantly ;  but  you 
took  off  your  hat,  like  any  other  gentleman." 

Daisy  again  stifled  her  impatience.  "  I  should 
think  that  even  she  could  perceive  that  he  does  n't 
take  off  his  hat  like  any  other  gentleman,"  she 
thought. 

"  That  was  simply  because  Miss  Burritt  was 
with  him,"  explained  the  cadet  pleasantly.  He 
was  a  Southerner,  and  the  courtesy  to  women  which 
had  passed  into  him  through  many  generations 
gave  his  manner  a  charm  which  impressed  Ellen 
delightfully.  Her  expressive,  intelligent  face  re- 
garded him  with  interest. 

"  It  is  all  so  new  to  me ;  I  do  like  to  under- 
stand," she  said. 

Miss  Burritt  decided  to  interfere. 

"  Perhaps  you  would    better  defer  catechizing 


130        THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

Mr.  Lorimer  until  some  morning  when  he  has  had 
a  little  more  sleep,"  she  said  dryly.  "  I  want  to 
see  you  a  minute,"  she  added  in  a  lowered  voice 
to  the  cadet,  who  lifted  his  cap  to  Miss  Day  before 
he  obediently  followed. 

Ellen's  thin  cheeks  grew  warm  at  her  cousin's 
tone ;  now  her  alert  ears  distinguished  a  low  laugh, 
and  the  words  "  rara  avis  "  and  "  freshly  caught," 
from  Daisy,  as  she  and  Lorimer  moved  away. 

The  band  now  took  up  a  position  under  a  great 
tree  and  began  to  give  a  morning  concert,  which 
ordinarily  would  have  filled  Ellen  with  pleasure ; 
but  her  happiness  had  been  poisoned  by  her  cousin's 
words  and  manner.  She  sat  there  quietly,  looking 
out  unseeingly  on  the  greensward  and  regarding 
her  circumstances  in  a  transfiguring  light. 

Daisy's  perfunctory  greeting  at  the  dock  yester- 
day, her  gift  of  the  sailor  hat,  her  willing  depar- 
ture alone  for  parade  —  all  at  once  gained  signifi- 
cance. All  these  other  girls  were  so  different  from 
Ellen  herself  !  Evidently  her  cousin  was  ashamed 
of  her,  impatient  of  her  being  here  —  had  perhaps 
dreaded  her  coming. 

"  Don't  let  me  be  too  hasty,"  thought  poor  Ellen, 
alarmed  by  the  intense  repugnance  for  her  sur- 
roundings which  suddenly  possessed  her. 

Her  uncle  was  approaching. 

"  Like  the  music  ?  "  he  asked  kindly. 

"  It  is  beautiful,"  she  answered,  smiling  bravely 
at  the  eagle  on  his  shoulder-strap. 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      131 

"  Young  folks  scattered,  eh  ?  Oh,  I  see  —  Daisy 
and  Lorimer  are  over  yonder  hatching  some  mis- 
chief. Well,  your  old  uncle  won't  have  your  soci- 
ety long.  You  will  be  hand  and  glove  with  these 
boys  and  girls  in  a  few  days.  Let  us  go  over  to 
the  library." 

Ah,  if  she  could  but  have  her  uncle,  and  nobody 
else  —  what  a  good  time  Ellen  thought  she  would 
have  !  In  the  dignified  and  beautiful  library  she 
almost  forgot  that  sore  place  in  her  heart  which  a 
few  minutes  ago  hurt  her  so. 

"  I  suppose  you  know  there  is  a  cadet  tea  on 
this  afternoon,  Ellen,"  remarked  Mrs.  Burritt  at 
luncheon. 

"  No,  I  did  n't,"  replied  the  girl ;  and  her  hostess 
noticed  her  colorless  manner  in  contrast  to  that  of 
yesterday. 

"  I  have  n't  dared  tell  her  yet,"  said  Daisy.  "  She 
told  Mr.  Lorimer  this  morning  that  he  bewildered 
and  fascinated  her.  I  thought  she  was  going  rather 
fast." 

Colonel  Burritt  perceived  no  sting. 

"  Ho,  ho,  ho !  "  his  hearty  laugh  rang  out.  "  Our 
little  Ellen  is  getting  on !  Pooh-poohed  at  cadet 
fever,  too !  Ha,  ha,  ha  !  " 

For  Ellen,  she  felt  a  wild  desire  to  rush  from 
the  table,  but  with  a  supreme  effort  she  controlled 
herself.  For  dear  Uncle  John's  sake  she  must  n't. 
Beside,  it  might  give  her  cousin  too  much  satisfac- 
tion. 


132       THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

A  contemptuous  little  smile  was  playing  about 
Daisy's  lips.  How  arrogantly  pretty  and  success- 
ful she  looked  in  her  pale  blue  and  white  dress  !  A 
cadet's  buckle,  heavily  monogrammed,  confined  the 
belt  about  her  slender  waist.  Two  or  three  shin- 
ing bell-buttons  depended  from  the  fob  of  her  watch. 
Natty,  trim,  correct  in  every  particular,  Daisy's  cos- 
tume made  Ellen  feel  bitterly  the  defects  in  her 
own,  and  the  lack  of  generosity  in  the  spoiled 
child's  treatment  of  herself  astounded  as  much  as 
it  wounded  her. 

"  If  you  would  not  think  me  rude,"  she  began, 
**  I  should  like  to  take  a  long  walk  among  the  hills 
this  afternoon." 

"  You  must  n't  think  of  it,  my  dear,"  put  in  her 
uncle  hastily.  "  After  a  while  you  won't  have  to 
take  such  a  walk  alone.  You  must  n't  think  of 
going  to-day.  Get  yourself  up  in  some  pretty 
togs  and  get  acquainted  with  the  young  people 
first." 

"  But  I  have  n't  pretty  togs,"  responded  Ellen 
bravely,  and  her  pride  made  her  add :  "I  think 
you  have  to  visit  a  place  once  to  know  how  to  dress 
there.  Perhaps  you  remember  the  demands  of 
BurrittviUe  ?  " 

"  Oh,  you  '11  do,  you  '11  do.  Don't  fret  about 
that.  Your  Aunt  Margaret  will  fix  you  up." 

But  Mrs.  Burritt's  vague  attempts  to  carry  out 
this  hint  were  politely  discouraged  by  Ellen  her- 
self, and  she  appeared  in  the  garden  among  the 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT       133 

gay  young  crowd  in  the  ill-fitting  brown  and  white 
organdie,  —  a  very  plain  and  doubtful  ornament  to 
the  assembly  in  the  opinion  of  all  but  her  honest 
uncle,  who  thought  the  flash  of  her  speaking  eyes 
pleasant  enough  to  offset  any  number  of  gew- 
gaws. 

"  That 's  my  only  sister's  child,  Lorimer,"  Colo- 
nel Burritt  said  to  the  cadet.  "  I  'm  anxious  she 
should  have  a  good  time  here,  and  a  little  afraid 
she  won't.  Her  head  's  too  full  of  brains  for  this 
place." 

"You  are  hard  on  us,  colonel,"  returned  the 
young  fellow  brightly. 

"  No.  I  don't  blame  you  for  bidding  good-by 
to  brains  in  summer  time,  not  a  whit." 

Ellen  Day  endured  two  hours  of  martyrdom  on 
that  bright  afternoon.  The  odd  person  in  every 
group,  yet  not  daring  to  be  found  solitary  by  the 
kind  and  watchful  eyes  of  her  uncle,  she  thought 
she  should  not  soon  forget  the  agonies  of  a  cadet 
tea,  where  all  but  herself  were  gay,  and  all  talked 
a  language  of  which  she  alone  was  ignorant. 

Schooling  herself  to  behave  naturally  with  her 
hosts,  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  the  next  morn- 
ing that  she  found  an  opportunity  to  satisfy  her 
longing  to  run  away  and  be  by  herself.  She 
wanted  to  think  out  the  situation,  and  decide  what 
she  should  do. 

This  lovely  spot  must  abound  in  secluded  nooks. 
Flirtation  Walk  had  been  pointed  out  to  her,  but 


134       THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

Uncle  John  had  told  her  it  was  a  haven  for  home- 
sick plebes  as  well  as  lovers ;  and  while  she  felt 
ready  to  mingle  her  stealthy  tears  with  those  of 
some  poor  discouraged  boy,  she  meant  not  to  shed 
any,  but  to  carry  her  fortitude  still  further.  Her 
longing  to  get  up  into  the  wilds  of  the  mighty 
hills  that  guard  the  post  and  river  had  somehow 
evaporated  with  her  other  anticipations.  The  heav- 
iness of  one's  heart  communicates  itself  to  the 
limbs. 

Ellen  walked  across  the  plain  and  past  the 
library  to  what  looked  like  lonely  wooded  banks 
of  the  river.  There  she  came  upon  a  flight  of 
steps  which  wound  downward.  Following  them 
she  found  herself  in  a  wild  and  lovely  glade. 

No  one  was  in  sight.  She  glanced  about  at 
the  delicate  flowers  clinging  to  rugged  rock  walls, 
damp  here  and  there  from  a  trickling  spring.  She 
looked  up  into  the  intertwined  foliage  of  trees. 
Here  was  a  retreat  full  of  the  sweet  smells  of 
Mother  Earth,  and  with  no  disturbing  element. 

Ellen  seated  herself  where  she  could  see  the  blue 
waters  of  the  Hudson  sparkle  through  the  under- 
growth, and  gave  herself  up  to  thought.  Alas 
for  that  heroic  resolution  to  shed  no  tears !  They 
would  come  as  she  thought  of  her  mother's  unself- 
ishness and  effort  to  spare  her,  of  the  happy  an- 
ticipations they  had  all  entertained.  She  thought 
of  the  sacrificed  encyclopaedia,  and  Miss  Bascom's 
flattering  prophecies.  It  seemed  the  height  of 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      135 

everything  desirable  to  take  the  first  boat  for  home. 
It  would  be  infinitely  easier  to  sustain  a  cross-fire  of 
questions  in  Burrittville  than  to  remain  here,  run- 
ning the  gauntlet  of  her  aunt's  and  cousin's  criti- 
cism. Daisy  evidently  held  her  in  too  mean  regard 
to  believe  that  such  slights  as  she  bestowed  could 
hurt ;  but  there  was  another  aspect  to  the  case  which 
Ellen  was  unable  to  ignore. 

She  saw  how  her  uncle  counted  on  her  pleasure. 
The  question  was  whether  she  were  strong  enough 
to  endure  pin-pricks  and  humiliations  without 
appearing  to  be  conscious  of  them,  until  the  time 
set  for  her  visit  had  expired,  and  so  convince  the 
dear,  patient  little  mother  and  good  Colonel  Bur- 
ritt  that  all  their  kindness  had  not  been  in  vain. 

It  was  not  an  easy  task.  Ellen  felt  that  she 
should  take  away  from  the  fray  scars  that  would 
be  carried  all  her  life.  A  girl  with  such  capacity 
for  pleasure  and  appreciation  must  pay  for  it  by 
an  equal  sensitiveness  to  pain,  and  what  worse 
pain  than  the  role  of  unwelcome  guest? 

Ellen  grew  hot  all  over  with  realization  of  her 
own  plain,  ill-dressed  personality,  of  the  total 
superfluity  of  her  presence  here ;  of  Daisy's  per- 
functory introductions.  What  wonder  that  the 
green,  sweet  solitude  tempted  her  to  the  indulgence 
of  a  burst  of  hot  tears  ?  She  repented  of  them, 
however,  at  once,  and  none  too  soon,  for  scarcely 
had  they  been  wiped  away,  when  the  apparition  of 
Francis  Lorimer  startled  her. 


136       THE   CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

He  had  recognized  her  first,  and  seeing  that  she 
was  wiping  her  eyes,  would  gladly  have  escaped 
unobserved ;  but  her  upward  look  made  that  im- 
possible, so  he  bared  his  head  with  a  bright  "  Good 
morning !  " 

Her  attitude  had  impressed  him.  In  a  flash 
there  returned  to  him  Colonel  Burritt's  words  of 
yesterday.  In  fact,  he  had  observed  enough  dur- 
ing Miss  Burritt's  tea  to  make  him  feel  more  than 
one  wave  of  wonder  at  and  compassion  for  this 
social  stranger ;  and  in  a  vague  way  he  had  men- 
tally censured  Daisy  for  taking  no  pains  to  make 
her  cousin  have  a  good  time. 

Now  this  impression  deepened  to  an  acute  re- 
sentment. L/orimer  had  an  invalid  sister  at  home. 
Ellen's  thin  cheeks  and  the  straight  hair  carried 
back  from  her  wide  forehead  somehow  made  him 
think  of  her.  It  was  a  shame  for  the  poor  thing 
to  be  moping  off  here  alone,  crying.  The  much- 
occupied  and  popular  First-class  man  actually  felt 
sufficient  interest  in  the  case  to  make  him  unwilling 
to  pass  on. 

"  You  find  a  good  many  pretty  places  here  to 
explore,  don't  you,  Miss  Day  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  answered  in  as  natural  a  voice  as 
her  rebellious  throat  allowed.  "  I  just  happened 
upon  this  spot." 

"  Yes  ?  Kosciusko's  Garden  is  one  of  our  show 
places." 

It  was  so  evidently  difficult  for  her  to  speak  to 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      137 

him,  he  suddenly  decided  that  he  had  better  move 
on.  Again  he  lifted  his  cap. 

"  Well,"  he  said  lightly,  "  I  will  leave  you  to 
your  study  of  nature." 

He  had  nearly  reached  the  stone  steps  when  he 
heard  his  name.  Turning  back,  he  saw  that  Ellen 
had  sprung  to  her  feet  and  was  looking  after  him, 
her  face  flushed.  He  hastened  back  to  her. 

"  Please  —  please  don't  mention  that  you  saw 
me  here,"  she  said.  "  You  probably  would  n't 
think  of  it  —  but  I  should  be  sorry "  —  after 
another  hesitation  she  added  —  "I  am  sure  you 
saw  that  I  had  been  crying.  That  would  not  be 
pleasant  news  to  my  hosts." 

The  dignity  and  courage  of  her  voice  and  man- 
ner as  she  finished  won  Lorimer's  approval. 

"  The  girl 's  a  trump,"  he  said  to  himself  as  he 
moved  on  his  way  to  camp.  "  This  is  a  nice  sum- 
mer vacation  for  her !  I  believe  the  colonel  spoke 
that  way  because  he  wanted  my  help ;  but  what 
can  I  do?" 

The  question  was  answered  in  the  cadet's  own 
mind  by  a  number  of  flattering  considerations 
which  started  his  thoughts  on  a  new  tack.  Might 
it  be  possible  to  use  his  social  influence  for  some- 
thing worth  while?  But  again,  was  it  worth 
while  from  a  selfish  standpoint?  How  many  a 
half  hour  would  he  have  to  spend  away  from  the 
dainty  belles  who  were  helping  to  make  his  First- 
class  camp  gay? 


138        THE   CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

Yet  what  a  good  joke  it  would  be !  How  rich 
would  be  the  mystification  of  Daisy  Burritt  and 
Blanche  Barstow  !  Lorimer  lost  his  cadet  expres- 
sion of  dignified  imperturbability  and  threw  back 
his  head  in  a  brief,  hilarious  laugh.  "  I  could  n't 
do  it  alone  —  not  make  it  a  howling  success,  that 
is ;  but  I  '11  talk  to  Maverick  and  Deering." 

Ellen  Day,  there  in  Kosciusko's  Garden,  had 
taken  up  her  cross.  She  returned  to  her  uncle's 
house,  determined  to  see  and  hear  nothing  disturb- 
ing, to  wear  her  hateful  dresses,  and  even  Daisy's 
cast-off  sailor  hat,  to  talk  with  whom  she  must, 
and  to  go  where  she  was  asked. 

She  was  sitting  on  the  piazza  that  afternoon  in 
company  with  a  bevy  of  girls  who  were  ostensibly 
calling  on  her,  but  surrounding  Daisy,  when  three 
of  the  brightest  particular  stars  from  camp  came 
down  the  walk  toward  the  house.  They  were 
Lorimer,  Deering,  and  Maverick. 

Ellen  regarded  them  admiringly.  They  were  so 
spick  and  span  in  the  toilet  just  made  for  parade ! 
The  girls  welcomed  them  with  nonchalant  sweet- 
ness as  they  came  up  on  the  piazza,  and  Ellen, 
who  had  met  the  adjutant  at  the  cadet  tea,  bowed 
to  them  all  three  in  silence. 

How  all  tongues  but  hers  flew,  and  what  a  light- 
hearted  crowd  they  were!  It  made  her  almost 
dizzy  to  listen  and  try  to  follow  allusions  which 
she  could  not  understand;  so  she  had  ceased  to 
attempt  it  when  Lorimer  turned  to  her. 


THE    CADET   CAPTALVS   EXPERIMENT      139 

"  Miss  Day,  won't  you  go  with  me  to  the  ger- 
man  on  Wednesday  evening  ?  "  he  asked. 

An  instant  silence  fell  on  the  group.  Ellen 
saw  the  glance  that  passed  between  her  cousin  and 
Miss  Barstow. 

"  Don't  frighten  Miss  Day  to  death,  Mr.  Lori- 
mer,"  said  Daisy,  highly  entertained.  She  took 
this  amazing  invitation  as  a  subtle  and  indirect 
compliment  to  herself,  but  she  must  show  that  she 
recognized  its  absurdity. 

"  I  am  not  so  easily  frightened,"  said  Ellen 
quietly.  "  Thank  you,  Mr.  Lorimer.  I  never 
even  saw  a  german." 

"  Then  I  fancy  you  will  find  it  an  entertaining 
sight,"  he  returned.  "  Perhaps  you  will  give  me 
the  hop  on  Friday  evening  ?  " 

His  manner  was  so  engaging  and  so  respectful, 
Ellen  would  have  been  pleased  by  his  attention 
but  for  the  curious  eyes  bent  upon  her. 

"  I  don't  dance  at  all,"  she  answered. 

"  Why,  that 's  a  shame,"  put  in  Deering,  who, 
as  he  spoke,  came  over  and  seated  himself  near 
EUen. 

The  effort  necessary  to  be  put  forth  by  a  cadet 
of  the  United  States  Military  Academy  to  mam- 
tain  converse  with  an  embarrassed  girl  who  is 
ignorant  of  the  Point  traditions  and  customs  is 
something  herculean,  biit  Deering  and  Lorimer 
stuck  to  their  task  until  the  time  came  to  go  to 
parade. 


140       THE   CADET   CAPTAIN'S  EXPERIMENT 

Miss  Burritt  and  her  friends  were  obliged  to 
share  Maverick  among  them. 

"  I  could  only  catch  a  word  here  and  there  of 
what  they  said  to  her,"  Daisy  said  that  evening^ 
in  describing  the  scene  to  her  mother.  "  They 
must  have  been  very  much  amused.  I  don't 
doubt  Ellen  gave  them  points  on  poultry-raising, 
or  some  subject  equally  congenial." 

On  the  following  Monday  evening  there  was  a 
dance.  Colonel  Burritt  would  not  hear  to  Ellen's 
being  left  at  home,  as  she  requested,  so  the  white 
muslin  had  to  be  brought  out. 

The  girl  regarded  it  with  very  different  eyes 
from  the  unquestioning  and  indifferent  ones  which 
had  watched  Miss  Bascom  fit  it.  She  pulled  out 
its  sleeves  and  regarded  them  doubtfully.  How- 
ever, it  was  a  very  simple  dress,  and  when  Ellen 
had  put  it  on  and  pulled  its  ribbon  belt  until  she 
was  conscious  of  its  proximity  to  her  slight  person, 
she  looked  passable,  she  thought. 

"  I  don't  believe,"  she  mused,  seriously  scanning 
her  reflection  in  the  mirror,  "  that  there  is  any- 
thing in  my  looks  to  laugh  at." 

No  one  else  seemed  to  think  so.  Daisy  did  not 
look  at  her  after  a  first  glance  to  be  certain  that 
she  was  not  a  "  guy,"  and  in  the  dancing-hall  Mrs. 
Burritt  gave  her  a  seat  beside  herself,  where  she 
could  look  about  at  the  well-carried  cadets  and  the 
bevy  of  gay  girls  to  whom  they  were  so  pleasantly 
devoted. 


THE   CADET  CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      141 

Little  longings  swelled  Ellen's  heart  at  this 
glimpse  of  a  new  world.  The  music  was  so  in- 
spiring that  it  made  her  foot  tap  under  the  white 
skirts  that  her  encyclopaedia  money  had  bought. 

She  did  not  long  to-night  for  book-learning. 
What  she  yearned  for  was  to  be  able  to  sway  and 
circle  about  in  graceful  fashion,  as  these  young 
people  were  doing. 

How  pretty  the  dance  was!  Her  clear  eyes 
looked  with  generous  admiration  at  the  beautiful 
girl,  a  stranger  to  her,  over  whom  Lorimer  was 
bending  devotedly.  To  think  he  had  asked  her, 
awkward,  plain  Ellen,  to  be  his  partner  at  a  festiv- 
ity like  this !  He  must  have  felt  very  sorry  for 
her !  Well,  to-night  he  had  forgotten  homely  girls 
who  cried  alone  in  the  woods  ;  and  what  wonder  ? 

It  sent  a  warm  little  thrill  of  pleasant  surprise 
through  her,  when  at  the  close  of  the  first  dance, 
Lorimer,  very  handsome  in  his  becoming  military 
toilet,  came  straight  up  to  her  with  a  pleasant 
greeting. 

"  Sit  down,  sit  down,  my  boy,"  said  Colonel 
Burritt,  rising.  "  I  must  go  off  and  do  some  visit- 
ing myself." 

Mrs.  Burritt,  busy  with  the  chaperon  on  her 
other  side,  looked  around  in  surprise  when  the 
music  struck  up  for  the  second  dance  and  the 
cadet  captain  did  not  stir. 

"  Don't  let  me  keep  you,"  said  Ellen,  wishing  it 
were  proper  to  tell  him  that  she  was  grateful  to 


142        THE    CADET    CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

him  for  this  bit  of  a  talk  —  just  to  make  her  feel 
a  little  more  like  the  other  girls. 

"  But  this  is  our  dance,"  he  returned,  smiling. 

"Oh!  I  told  you,  Mr.  Lorimer,  that  I  don't 
know  how.  I  do  wish  I  did." 

"  Yes,  I  know ;  so  we  are  going  to  sit  it  out. 
Excuse  me  for  not  having  given  you  your  pro- 
gramme." 

He  handed  her  a  card  on  which  cadets'  names 
were  written  thickly  from  top  to  bottom. 

Ellen's  thin  cheeks  flushed. 

"  What  does  this  mean  ?  "    , 

"  Only  that  you  are  going  to  talk  to  a  lot  of  us 
and  get  acquainted." 

"  Mr.  Lorimer  !  Oh,  dear !  They  will  be  so 
bored !  " 

Miss  Day's  heart  fluttered  excitedly. 

"  You  are  much  more  likely  to  be.  We  cadets 
live  in  a  narrow  world,  you  will  find." 

"How  very,  very  kind  you  were  to  take  the 
trouble  !  "  said  Ellen,  lifting  her  grateful,  speaking 
eyes  in  a  way  that  touched  the  autocratic  young 
captain,  and  repaid  him  for  the  skillful  generalship 
he  had  expended  on  the  filling  of  this  card  in  the 
busy  season. 

Meanwhile  Daisy  Burritt's  sharp  eyes  had  de- 
tected that  Lorimer  was  cutting  one  of  his  dances 
for  the  sake  of  her  country  consul,  and  noticed, 
too,  that  Ellen  appeared  very  much  at  her  ease  and 
was  listening  and  talking,  her  intelligent  face  quite 


THE   CADET  CAPTAIN'S  EXPERIMENT     143 

good-looking  in  her  happiness.  She  herself  was 
dancing  with  Deering. 

"  Awfully  clever  girl,  that  cousin  of  yours,"  he 
said. 

"  Which  are  you  being,  —  sarcastic  or  polite  ?  " 
she  rejoined. 

"  You  need  n't  guy  me.  You  must  know  she 's 
clever." 

"  That  forehead  of  hers  ought  to  mean  some- 
thing," remarked  Daisy. 

But  she  was  surprised,  and  was  destined  to  an 
increase  of  perplexity  all  that  evening. 

The  music  ceased,  and  Lorimer  consulted  Ellen's 
card. 

"  Gage  comes  next.  Nice  chap.  Not  so  green 
as  he  sounds.  Shall  we  go  out  of  doors  with  the 
dancers  ?  " 

Ellen  agreed,  and,  taking  the  cadet's  arm,  soon 
found  herself  on  the  broad  stone  walk,  promenading 
with  dozens  of  other  couples  beneath  the  trees. 
She  could  hardly  believe  in  her  own  identity ;  but 
the  dream  was  a  very  pleasant  one.  Almost  every 
girl  they  passed  looked  at  Lorimer. 

At  last  they  went  back  into  the  hall,  and  her 
companion  brought  to  her  a  fair-haired  young  fel- 
low, a  yearling,  who  for  the  honor  of  doing  the 
cadet  captain  a  favor  had  gladly  foregone  one  of 
his  dances. 

The  comical  side  of  feeling  gratitude  to  this  boy 
of  her  own  age  or  less  for  bestowing  upon  her 


144       THE   CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

fifteen  minutes  of  his  society  was  vivid  to  her,  yet 
grateful  she  was  for  the  removal  of  all  a  wall-flower's 
consciousness  by  the  presence  of  the  bell-buttoned 
cavalier. 

"  I  feel  that  it  is  an  imposition  to  allow  you  to 
miss  the  dance,"  she  said,  as  he  took  the  seat  beside 
her,  and  her  fan. 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  he  returned  stoutly.  "  But 
you  should  dance,  really,  Miss  Day.  It 's  great, 
don't  you  know." 

"  Too  great  for  me,"  she  sighed.  "  I  'm  afraid 
I  'm  too  old  to  learn." 

"  No,  indeed.  I  did  n't  know  how  till  I  came 
here.  Never  would  learn  at  dancing-school,  don't 
you  know.  Always  went  out  to  get  a  glass  of  water 
when  the  waltz  was  on.  Here  it 's  dance  or  get 
out,  you  know,"  etc.,  etc. 

Mr.  Gage's  tongue  was  hung  in  the  middle,  as 
the  saying  is,  and  only  a  question  now  and  then 
was  enough  to  keep  him  going. 

Ellen's  next  partner  was  no  less  a  person  than 
the  adjutant.  Then  followed  Maverick.  These 
were  succeeded  by  other  First-class  men,  into  whose 
ears  had  been  dropped  significant  hints  of  Miss 
Day's  cleverness,  which  she  justified  by  her  sincere 
desire  to  understand  the  life  of  the  cadet,  and  con- 
sequent retention  of  the  conversation  in  paths  with 
which  the  young  men  were  familiar. 

Francis  Lorimer's  name  was  down  a  second  time 
on  her  card. 


THE   CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      145 

"  This  was  unnecessary,"  she  said,  smiling  him  a 
greeting  when  he  came. 

"  Of  course  ;  but  so  are  lots  of  pleasant  things. 
You  don't  begrudge  it  to  me,  do  you  ?  " 

Miss  Burritt  saw  Ellen  leave  the  hall  and  return 
with  one  and  another  cavalier,  looking,  with  her 
happy  face  and  her  fresh,  white  gown,  like  a  totally 
different  being  from  the  awkward,  reserved  crea- 
ture who  had  been  moving  about  the  Burritt  house 
the  last  few  days. 

Her  father  saw  it,  too,  with  deep  satisfaction. 
He  secured  his  daughter's  ear  for  a  moment. 

"  A  very  pretty  thought  of  yours,  Daisy,  to  fix 
up  things  so  pleasantly  for  Ellen,"  he  said,  such 
a  look  of  pleasure  in  his  eyes  that  it  required 
some  effort  on  Daisy's  part  to  disclaim  his  grati- 
tude. 

"  Indeed,  I  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,"  she 
answered,  tossing  her  head  in  her  spoiled-child 
fashion. 

A  cadet  appearing  to  claim  Miss  Burritt,  the 
colonel  fell  back,  a  cloud  of  surprise  and  disap- 
pointment shadowing  his  kind  face.  He  found 
himself  beside  one  of  the  tactical  officers  of  the 
academy. 

"  Good  evening,  Dick,"  he  said,  with  a  short 
nod. 

"  Good  evening,  colonel.  Is  that  young  lady 
with  Lorimer  your  niece  ?  " 

"  Yes." 


146      THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

"  I  was  n't  certain.  I  've  only  seen  her  the 
evening  I  called.  Her  brains  don't  all  seem  to 
reside  in  her  heels." 

The  peculiar,  gruff  manner  of  the  cavalryman 
was  characteristic.  "  Queer  Dick "  he  had  been 
called  when  he  was  a  cadet,  and  "  Queer  Dick " 
he  was  still,  —  a  man  who  would  have  been  a 
favorite  with  women  but  for  his  curt  and  reserved 
manners.  His  good  looks  attracted  each  new  girl 
only  for  a  short  time.  He  himself  said  he  could  n't 
get  on  with  girls.  They  certainly  were  quickly 
chilled  by  the  reception  he  gave  to  their  airs  and 
graces.  There  was  not  an  unmarried  woman  on 
the  post  who  did  not  stand  in  more  or  less  awe 
of  "that  bear,"  as  Daisy  and  her  bosom  friend 
Blanche  dubbed  him. 

The  exasperation  of  it  was  that  he  was  not  the 
least  shy  of  them.  He  was  only  bored.  Unpar- 
donable insult ! 

Colonel  Burritt  smiled  at  his  speech  now,  and 
the  lieutenant  continued  :  — 

"  Must  be  something  remarkable  about  a  girl 
who  can  make  the  cadets  willing  to  talk  when 
they  might  be  dancing." 

"  Yes ;  Ellen 's  a  bright  girl.  Lived  in  the 
country  all  her  life,  but  seems  to  take  to  this  like 
a  duck  to  water.  Her  mother  's  my  only  sister, 
and  the  sweetest  woman  God  ever  made  —  pres- 
ent company  barred,  of  course.  It  does  me  good 
to  see  the  child  enjoy  herself." 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      147 

"  Humph !  "  grunted  Lieutenant  Dick.  "  Prob- 
ably spoil  her  for  the  country." 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it.     She  's  too  level-headed." 

The  pride  in  the  colonel's  tone,  added  to  the 
interest  that  Ellen's  capture  of  the  cadets  had 
inspired,  made  the  cavalryman  drift  around  after 
a  while  to  her  side  of  the  room.  The  last  dance 
on  her  card  was  not  filled,  and  Mr.  Dick,  perceiv- 
ing that  the  seat  beside  her  remained  empty, 
approached. 

"  Good  evening,  Miss  Day.  Probably  you  don't 
remember  me.  I  'm  Dick." 

Her  eyes,  bright  from  the  novel  fun  of  the 
evening,  welcomed  him.  She  greeted  him  .with 
an  ease  that  amused  and  surprised  herself.  She 
felt  quite  like  a  woman  of  the  world. 

"  You  seem  to  have  been  enjoying  yourself,"  he 
said  brusquely,  as  he  took  the  seat  she  offered 
him. 

"  Why,  I  never  had  such  a  good  time.  I  do  so 
wish  I  knew  how  to  dance  !  I  never  thought  of 
such  a  thing  before." 

The  lieutenant  regarded  her  gloomily,  yet  curi- 
ously. Her  face  was  so  innocently  eager,  so  natu- 
ral and  happy.  She  was  a  new  type  for  him. 

"  What  have  you  liked  to  do  ?  " 

"  Read,  I  'm  afraid."  She  spoke  apologetically. 
"  Read  and  walk  —  with  my  little  hammer." 

The  gloom  suddenly  lifted  from  the  cavalryman's 
face.  "  Do  you  care  for  geology  ?  " 


148      THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

"  I  love  it,"  she  exclaimed,  with  an  ardor  which 
awoke  an  answering  gleam  in  her  companion's  cold 
eyes. 

"  I  can  show  you  some  objects  of  interest,  I 
think,  then,"  he  said.  "  Perhaps  to-morrow  some- 
time?" 

She  looked  doubtful.  "  To-morrow  morning  I 
am  going  to  walk  with  Mr.  Loriiner,  and  in  the 
afternoon  with  Mr.  Deeriug,"  she  replied. 

The  lieutenant  became  more  deeply  impressed 
with  what  must  certainly  be  the  mental  charms  of 
this  plain,  bright  girl  to  cause  such  gilded  stars 
as  these  cadet  officers  to  do  so  much  shining  upon 
her. 

"  Next  day,  then,"  he  said. 

"  I  should  be  so  pleased,"  she  answered,  with 
a  straightforward,  hearty  gratitude  which  made 
the  tactical  officer  forget  his  cynicism. 

Mrs.  Burritt,  who  had  been  sitting  beside  Ellen 
all  the  evening,  marveling  greatly,  had  a  private 
interview  with  her  daughter  before  they  retired 
that  night. 

"  There  is  only  one  explanation  for  it,"  said 
Daisy,  "  and  that  is  that  Frank  Lorimer  cares 
more  for  me  than  I  thought  he  did." 

"  Don't  be  too  sure,"  returned  Mrs.  Burritt. 
"  It  sounded  to  me  as  I  sat  there  as  if  he  were 
greatly  taken  with  Ellen." 

Her  daughter  looked  completely  mystified. 

"  And  look  at  that  curmudgeon  of  a  Dick !  " 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      149 

Mrs.  Burritt  went  on.  "  Why,  he  talked  to  her 
in  the  most  human,  interested  way !  You  know," 
wisely,  "  it  is  a  matter  of  history  that  some  of  the 
plainest  women  have  been  the  most  fascinating  to 
men." 

So  both  mother  and  daughter  went  to  bed  with- 
out settling  the  problem. 

As  for  the  beneficiary  of  Lorimer's  experiment, 
she  was  up  betimes  in  the  morning,  with  none  of 
the  heavy-heartedness  of  yesterday.  Mingled  with 
a  real  relief  for  her  cousin's  sake  that  Daisy  need 
not  be  ashamed  of  her,  was  the  natural  pleasure 
of  a  girlish  triumph. 

Mrs.  Burritt's  laundress  had  put  plenty  of  starch 
in  her  shirt-waist  this  time,  and  she  took  pains  to 
make  herself  look  as  nice  as  she  could  to  go  across 
the  lawn  with  her  uncle  and  cousin  to  troop 
parade. 

Colonel  Burritt  rallied  her  on  her  successes  of 
the  night  before,  and  especially  on  the  fact  that 
the  woman-hating  Dick  had  voluntarily  chatted 
with  her.  When  she  laughingly  announced  her 
engagement  to  go  walking  with  him  on  the  follow- 
ing day,  her  uncle's  mirth  was  loud,  while  Daisy 
stared  in  genuine  amazement.  The  story  of  Cin- 
derella and  that  of  the  Ugly  Duckling  surely  had 
a  parallel  now. 

When  camp  was  reached  the  puzzle  deepened. 
When  parade  was  over  Lorimer  and  Maverick 
were  pleasant  in  their  greeting  of  Miss  Burritt, 


150       THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

but  toward  the  girl  in  the  last  year's  sailor  hat 
they  were  eager.  One  established  himself  on 
each  side  of  her.  They  hung  on  her  words. 
Young  Gage  added  himself  to  the  group. 

The  star  cadets,  tickled  with  their  success  of 
the  evening  before,  and  pleased  with  the  blossom- 
ing of  their  protegee's  manner,  had  dropped  serious 
and  well-chosen  words  of  praise  of  Miss  Day  among 
the  corps  whose  effect  showed  this  morning.  There 
were  plenty  of  men  willing  to  see  the  same  charms 
that  Lorimer  and  Deering  saw,  whether  they  were 
invisible  or  not ;  and  Daisy  and  Blanche  were 
forced  to  talk  to  each  other  or  to  join  in  Ellen's 
court  with  the  best  face  they  could  put  upon  the 
matter. 

Fortunately  or  unfortunately,  they  little  sus- 
pected that  the  expression  of  their  countenances 
forced  three  of  their  friends  later  in  the  day  to 
lay  down  their  cadet  dignity,  and  retiring  to  the 
seclusion  of  Fort  Clinton,  to  give  way  to  bois- 
terous hilarity. 

Meanwhile,  during  guard  mount,  Lieutenant 
Dick  stood  about  among  the  spectators'  seats,  the 
usual  fixed  expression  of  misanthropy  upon  his 
countenance,  and  some  object  held  in  his  closed 
right  hand. 

When  guard  mount  was  over,  he  saw  his  chance 
while  Miss  Day  was  for  a  minute  standing  alone. 

He  approached  and  greeted  her  hurriedly,  and 
then  displayed  the  stone  treasure  he  had  been 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      151 

guarding.  The  girl's  eagerness  and  interest  en- 
chanted him.  She  met  his  comments  intelligently, 
and  made  suggestions  that  pleased  him.  They 
would  have  a  very  good  time  to-morrow  —  that 
was  certain ! 

But  here  Lorimer  came  up,  with  Miss  Day's 
plain  dark  parasol  in  his  hand,  and  the  tactical 
officer,  lifting  his  cap,  retreated. 

Nothing  succeeds  like  success.  Ellen  Day's  con- 
fidence and  cheerfulness  grew  with  every  hour. 
Mrs.  Burritt  accepted  her  sudden  popularity  as  an 
amazing  dispensation  which  caused  so  much  satis- 
faction to  her  husband  that  it  was  no  matter  if 
Daisy  did  have  to  suffer  some  mortification  in 
being  compelled  to  recognize  her  cousin's  occult 
social  power. 

Happiness  being  such  a  beautifier,  what  wonder 
that  Ellen's  cheeks  began  to  fill  out?  And  her 
puzzled  relatives  looked  askance  at  her  and  won- 
dered if  she  really  were  such  a  plain  girl,  after  all. 

The  most  astonishing  of  her  conquests  was  that 
of  Queer  Dick.  Far  from  dropping  off,  or  scaring 
Ellen,  or  being  bored,  he  was  always  coming  over 
to  Colonel  Burritt's  with  a  new  treatise  on  geology, 
or  starting  off  with  her,  hammers  in  hand,  on  a 
drive  or  a  tramp.  Indeed,  the  tactical  officer's  at- 
tentions gave  Lorimer  and  his  fellow-conspirators 
a  means  of  graceful  and  gradual  withdrawal  from 
that  ultra-devotion  which  was  so  much  fun  while  it 
lasted,  but  would  have  palled  in  time. 


152       THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

The  cadet  captain  did  not  lose  his  interest  in 
Ellen,  however.  He  regarded  her  changed  appear- 
ance and  Daisy's  changed  manner  with  much  self- 
complacence. 

"  When  a  cadet-girl  starts  out  to  be  an  officer- 
girl,  there  is  no  use  in  trying  to  stem  the  tide,"  he 
said  one  day  to  Miss  Day  before  her  cousin,  with 
much  assumption  of  sentimental  injury. 

So  it  came  about  that  all  the  rosy  prophecies 
of  Ellen's  Burrittville  friends  came  true,  and  when 
finally  she  appeared  among  them  again,  many 
were  the  compliments  that  brightened  her  laughing 
face. 

She  was  a  sort  of  Scheherezade  in  the  village 
for  weeks  to  come,  and  her  mother's  worn  face 
brightened  in  the  sunshine  of  her  child's  happy 
memories. 

"  The  question  is,"  said  pleased  Miss  Bascom, 
"  did  that  white  muslin  do  the  business  ?  Are  you 
engaged,  Ellen  Day  ?  " 

"No,  indeed,"  answered  the  girl  decisively,  but 
the  postmistress  told  Miss  Bascom  in  strict  privacy 
that  a  letter  came  to  Ellen  every  week  postmarked 
West  Point. 

"  It  may  be  her  relations,  though,"  the  dress- 
maker warned  her.  "  Her  cousin  Daisy,  you 
know." 

"  Pooh !  Nobody's  cousin  Daisy  ever  wrote  like 
that,"  was  the  scornful  reply. 

Winter's  snowy  blanket  had  wrapped  the  little 


THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT      153 

village  when  a  stalwart  stranger  one  day  descended 
from  the  afternoon  train  at  Burrittville  and  asked 
his  way  to  the  Day  cottage. 

Seven  different  women  could  swear  to  seeing 
him  go  in  there,  but  nobody  saw  him  come  out. 
He  was  a  genteel  man,  and  walked  as  if  he  was 
marching,  they  said.  They  all  held  afterward  that 
they  suspected  from  the  first  that  he  was  military. 

Ellen's  little  sister  let  him  in,  and  he  was 
ushered  into  a  parlor  where  a  bright  coal  fire  was 
burning. 

Ellen  herself  appeared  almost  immediately,  and 
her  cheeks  were  very  red.  "  Why  did  n't  you  tell 
me  you  were  coming  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  thought  I  would  n't,"  he  said,  holding  her 
hand  so  that  she  could  n't  release  it,  and  studying 
her  face  earnestly.  "  I  imagined  if  I  surprised  you 
that  I  should  find  out  something  of  the  way  you 
feel  toward  me ;  but  I  don't.  The  way  I  feel 
toward  you  I  have  learned  perfectly.  I  've  been  a 
starving  man  ever  since  you  left  the  post." 

"  But  our  letters  have  been  such  a  comfort,"  she 
said,  feeling  very  warm  and  surprised  and  happy. 

"  Have  they  ?  "  he  exclaimed  delightedly.  "  I  'm 
a  Queer  Dick ;  I  know  it.  Everybody  knows  it ; 
but  will  you  have  me,  Ellen  ?  " 

She  did  n't  know  what  she  said,  but  it  was  satis- 
factory ;  and  fifteen  minutes  after  they  had  sat 
down  together  he  took  from  his  pocket  a  little  vel- 
vet box  containing  a  flashing  diamond  ring. 


154      THE    CADET   CAPTAIN'S   EXPERIMENT 

"  Dear  me !  "  gasped  Ellen,  half  in  delight,  half 
in  resentment.  "  You  were  very  sure  of  me." 

"  No,"  returned  the  lieutenant,  regarding  the 
jewel  admiringly ;  "  but  I  thought  if  you  refused 
me,  we  should  enjoy  looking  at  the  stone  together." 

His  fiancee  laughed  gently,  tears  in  her  eyes. 

As  soon  as  the  tactical  officer  returned  to  the 
Point  his  engagement  was  announced.  Everybody 
was  astonished,  but  pleased,  as  well  there  as  at 
home  in  Ellen's  village. 

Miss  Bascom  plumed  herself  triumphantly.  "  I 
knew  I  made  that  white  muslin  real  pretty,"  she 
said. 

In  the  barracks  up  on  the  Hudson  Francis 
Lorimer  clapped  the  cadet  adjutant  on  the  shoul- 
der. "  It 's  a  first-rate  match,"  he  declared.  "  I 
like  it ;  and  I  '11  bet  a  hundred  dollars  to  a  nickel 
Queer  Dick  would  never  have  spied  the  little  thing 
if  we  hadn't  boomed  her." 

And  Deering  refused  to  risk  his  nickel. 


Miss  LIDA  HASBROOK  had  played  the  little 
organ  and  held  general  direction  of  the  music  in 
the  Congregational  church  at  Stapleton  for  twenty 
years,  when  her  complaints  of  the  asthmatic  old 
instrument  began  to  be  heard.  Not  even  then 
could  she  move  the  men  out  of  their  indifference. 
The  wheezing  of  the  bellows  was  a  part  of  their 
Sunday  worship,  and  they  accepted  it  with  the 
composure  of  long  habit,  turning  a  deaf  ear  to 
the  little  woman's  hints  and  suggestions. 

Only  her  nephew  Jasper  sympathized  with  her 
woes.  She  kept  his  house,  cooked  his  meals,  and 
mothered  him  generally,  so  doubtless  she  earned 
the  right  to  his  attentive  ear.  At  all  events  he 
was  forced  to  listen  three  times  a  day  to  his  aunt's 
excited  statements,  and  as  he  threw  in  a  soothing 
or  a  hopefid  word  here  and  there,  Miss  Has- 
brook  derived  comfort  from  his  passive  sympa- 
thy. 

"  It  is  a  shame  and  a  disgrace  to  the  village  to 
have  such  music  in  church,"  she  exclaimed  one  day 
while  they  were  at  dinner.  Jasper  had  heard  the 
same  remark  a  great  many  times,  and  assented  in 
his  quiet  way. 


156  THE  NEW   ORGAN 

"  And  it 's  my  belief  that  we  women  of  the  sew- 
ing-circle will  take  hold  of  it,  if  the  men  won't," 
she  added  defiantly.  "  We  've  got  the  minister  on 
our  side,  anyway." 

The  young  man  surveyed  his  aunt  with  some 
curiosity  in  his  grave  brown  eyes.  Although  it 
had  been  a  matter  of  course  all  his  life  that  Aunt 
Lidy  should  lead  the  music  on  Sunday,  he  had 
only  lately  come  to  a  realizing  sense  of  the  depth 
of  her  interest  in  that  weekly  occupation.  Her 
thin  cheeks  were  flushed  now.  After  regarding 
her  a  few  seconds  thoughtfully,  he  remarked :  — 

"  Well,  Aunt  Lidy,  if  your  heart  is  so  set  on 
this  thing,  and  you  believe  that  the  ladies  want  to 
take  hold  of  the  matter,  you  may  tell  them  that  I 
will  give  you  fifteen  dollars  as  a  sort  of  nest-egg  to 
begin  with." 

"  Jasper  Hasbrook,  you  dear,  generous  boy !  " 
ejaculated  Miss  Lida,  looking  across  at  him  with 
eager,  sparkling  eyes.  She  knew  that  uses  for  the 
young  farmer's  spare  dollars  were  many ;  and  if 
he  had  a  surplus  to  spend  on  luxuries,  it  would 
always  go  to  buy  books,  if  he  pleased  himself. 

"  That  is  probably  exactly  what 's  needed,  to 
give  a  little  spur  to  the  whole  thing,"  she  added 
with  joyous  gratitude.  "  You  '11  see  we  shall  have 
that  organ  now,  Jasper  Hasbrook,  and  it  will  be  all 
owing  to  you  !  " 

Miss  Hasbrook  proved  a  true  prophet.  The  new 
organ  became  an  accomplished  fact,  but  not  for 


THE   NEW   ORGAN  157 

many  a  long  month.  The  minister  prayed  for  it, 
the  congregation  talked  about  it,  the  sewing-circle 
worked  for  it,  a  fair  was  held  in  its  behalf,  and  at 
last,  after  much  straining,  the  amount  of  its  cost 
was  nearly  achieved.  A  deficit  of  twenty-six  dol- 
lars remained  to  be  made  up,  and  a  hard-drawn 
subscription  began  to  be  taken.  The  last  difficult 
five  dollars  was  wrested  from  Mr.  Nicholas  Pea- 
body  himself,  an  old  gentleman  who  enjoyed  the 
reputation  of  being  the  "  nearest  "  as  well  as  the 
most  prosperous  member  of  the  Stapleton  congre- 
gation. 

To  Miss  Hasbrook  belonged  the  honor  of  secur- 
ing that  portentous  five-dollar  bill,  but  by  the 
time  the  longed-for  cash  rested  in  her  hand,  a 
blow  had  fallen  which  robbed  it  of  its  value,  and 
blanched  the  rosy  prospect  to  ashen  gray. 

It  happened  in  this  wise.  A  lady  of  the  sewing- 
circle  had  written  Mr.  Peabody  a  suave  and  per- 
suasive letter,  as  being  the  surest  way  of  reaching 
an  individual  so  practiced  in  eluding  committees  of 
ways  and  means.  The  letter  informed  him  of  the 
nearly  reached  success  of  the  church's  project,  and 
besought  Mr.  Peabody  to  provide  for  himself  the 
pleasant  memory  of  having  finished  a  work  so  well 
begun ;  inasmuch  as  the  society  was  determined 
that  not  one  penny  of  debt  should  hang  over  their 
purchase  and  blight  its  beauty. 

The  sewing-circle  had  been  waiting  nearly  a  week 
for  the  reply  to  this  appeal,  when  Miss  Hasbrook, 


158  THE   NEW   ORGAN 

returning  one  afternoon  from  its  session,  caught  a 
glimpse  of  Mr.  Nicholas  Peabody  approaching 
along  the  village  street. 

She  had  been  mentally  deploring  the  lateness  of 
the  hour,  fearing  that  Jasper  would  be  kept  wait- 
ing for  his  supper,  and  wishing  that  she  had 
thought  to  slice  the  cold  ham  before  she  left  home  ; 
but  at  sight  of  "  old  Nick,"  as  Mr.  Peabody  was 
dubbed  by  the  graceless  boys  of  the  village,  Jas- 
per was  forgotten,  and  the  ruling  passion  rose  up- 
permost. From  the  moment  when  she  had,  a  year 
ago,  informed  the  sewing-circle  of  her  nephew's 
gift,  she  had  been  a  leading  spirit  in  the  work  for 
the  beloved  object.  To  be  sure,  she  had  an  incen- 
tive which  others  lacked.  The  new  organ  stood  in 
her  view  as  a  prospective  honor  and  joy  to  herself. 
More  joy  than  honor.  Her  hard  little  hands  longed 
toward  its  shining  keys ! 

The  energetic  woman  picked  her  way  more  reck- 
lessly through  the  slush  of  the  country  sidewalk. 
A  bird  in  the  hand  is  worth  two  in  the  bush,  she 
thought,  hurrying  because  she  feared  her  neighbor 
might  elude  her  if  she  allowed  him  to  reach  the 
post-office  corner  before  she  did. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Peabody,  I  'm  so  glad  I  met  you,"  she 
called,  speaking  before  she  had  quite  reached  him, 
with  an  amazing  forgetfulness  of  her  usual  re- 
gard for  the  proprieties.  Suspicion  soured  the 
man's  face  at  once,  but  Miss  Lida  proceeded  un- 
daunted. 


THE  NEW   ORGAN  159 

"The  ladies  were  wishing  this  afternoon  they 
could  get  your  answer  to  their  letter  about  the 
organ.  The  amount  is  almost  complete,  as  we  told 
you." 

Miss  Hasbrook  tilted  her  head  to  one  side  in  a 
birdlike  fashion,  and  smiled  confidingly  up  toward 
the  scowling  face  so  far  above  her. 

"  It 's  a  fool  business,  the  whole  of  it,"  vouch- 
safed the  old  man  curtly. 

"  Cross-patch  !  "  mutely  soliloquized  Miss  Has- 
brook, but  her  eyes  widened  innocently.  "  I  did  n't 
know  anybody  thought  that"  she  answered. 

"  Why,  of  course  't  is.  A  big,  new  orgin  '11  be 
nothin'  but  a  white  elephant  if  you  do  git  it.  Work 
'n  scrape  'n  pinch  'n  git  it  paid  for,  'n  what  then  ? 
It  '11  be  an  everlastin'  expense  to  git  somebody  to 
play  it." 

"Oh,  no,"  responded  Miss  Lida,  a  conscious, 
happy  glow  pervading  her.  "  I  don't  know  why 
it  should  cost  the  congregation  any  more  to  have 
a  good  instrument  played  than  a  poor  one." 
She  tittered  a  little  in  the  excess  of  her  satisfac- 
tion. 

"  What  ye  talkin'  about  ?  "  exclaimed  the  other 
irritably.  "  I  hear  ye  calc'late  to  have  peddles  and 
two  or  three  times  as  many  keys  as  the  old  orgin  's 
got."  He  glowered  at  the  little  woman  with  en- 
tirely impersonal  exasperation.  It  did  not  occur 
to  him  that  this  individual  was  a  part  of  the 
present  regime.  The  important  and  momentous 


160  THE   NEW   ORGAN 

periods  of  what  Miss  Hasbrook  was  wont  to  call 
the  professional  side  of  her  life  had  never  made 
any  impression  upon  this  member  of  her  audience. 
Had  Mr.  Peabody  been  asked  who  played  the 
organ  in  his  church,  he  would  have  meditated,  and 
might  have  responded  that  he  guessed  Lidy  Has- 
brook did  usually.  He  had  no  idea  of  the  dagger 
each  subsequent  word  planted  in  the  innocent  breast 
of  his  listener. 

"  I  s'pose  you  '11  admit  that  somebody 's  got  to  be 
hired  that  knows  how  to  work  all  them  fandangoes," 
he  sneered,  "  and  a  nice  time  you  '11  have  of  it. 
You  all  talk  about  it  as  chipper  as  though  Staple- 
ton  was  full  o'  these  orgin  chaps.  I  've  seen  'em 
play  in  the  city  churches,  yankin'  them  stoppers, 
they  call  'ein,  in  an'  out,  an'  stompin'  on  the  ped- 
dles faster  'n  faster  till  their  feet  look  like  a  shoe- 
shop  in  a  hurricane.  Them  that  want  that  kind 
o'  business  in  church  can  have  it  an'  pay  for  it, 
too.  I  don't.  Here 's  your  five  dollars,  though," 
slowly  producing  the  money  from  a  shiny  old  wallet. 
"  Take  it,  an'  your  foolishness  be  on  your  own  heads. 
Don't  expect  any  more  from  me." 

Miss  Hasbrook  received  the  money  in  a  nerve- 
less hand.  Her  tongue  was  unmanageable,  and  an 
unintelligible  sound  was  all  she  could  utter  by  way 
of  thanks.  Old  Nick  grunted  in  return  and  went 
his  way. 

His  stunned  victim,  like  one  in  a  bad  dream, 
splashed  home  through  the  dismal,  dismal  streets. 


THE   NEW   ORGAN  161 

It  had  never  once  occurred  to  her  before  this  after- 
noon that  the  coming  of  the  new  organ  meant  the 
elimination  from  her  life  of  all  its  poetry. 

Jasper  noticed  her  pallor  and  silence  that  night, 
but  she  evaded  his  questions  until,  accepting  her 
reluctance  to  confide  in  him,  he  turned  to  the  ever- 
welcome  subject  of  the  organ.  To  his  perplexity, 
at  the  sound  of  the  word  his  aunt's  hands  began  to 
tremble  among  the  teacups. 

"  Don't  talk  about  it  to-night,"  she  said  shortly. 

"  The  plan  is  n't  given  up  ?  "  he  ejaculated,  cer- 
tain that  nothing  less  awful  could  so  have  discom- 
posed Miss  Hasbrook. 

"  No." 

Miss  Lida  caught  her  lower  lip  between  her 
teeth  and  studied  the  tablecloth.  It  was  scarcely 
whiter  than  her  face  when  she  spoke  again,  her 
light  eyes  meeting  the  thoughtful  brown  ones  of 
her  nephew. 

"  Jasper,  who  do  you  suppose  is  going  to  play 
our  new  organ  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  I  had  n't  thought  as  far  as  that,"  he  answered. 
*'  First  catch  your  organ,  you  know." 

His  aunt's  eyes  fell  away  from  his  kindly,  curi- 
ous gaze. 

Then  it  was  not  an  impossible,  cruel  idea  to  him 
that  she  might  not  continue  in  the  office,  which  to 
her  was  the  chief  reason  for  her  existence.  A 
moment  she  brooded  gloomily  on  the  facts ;  how, 
little  by  little,  the  plan  formed  by  the  leading 


162  THE  NEW  ORGAN 

spirits  had  enlarged  and  become  ambitious,  and 
how  she  had  enthusiastically  led  them  on,  not 
realizing  that  the  "  first-class  instrument,"  toward 
which  they  proudly  looked,  might  baffle  her  mod- 
est powers. 

Her  companion's  voice  broke  hi  upon  her  medi- 
tation. 

"  Why  do  you  ask  ?  Has  the  question  of  an 
organist  come  up  yet  ?  " 

«  Not  —  not  really." 

"  I  should  think  it  was  somewhat  premature. 
By  the  way,  Aunt  Lidy,"  continued  the  young  man, 
trying  to  introduce  a  cheerful  topic,  "  Mrs.  Lind- 
say told  me  to-day  that  Grace  would  not  go  back 
to  the  academy  another  year.  When  she  comes 
home  in  June,  it  will  be  the  end  of  her  schooling." 

"  Yes,"  responded  Miss  Hasbrook  abstractedly. 
What  was  Grace  Lindsay,  or  indeed  any  earthly 
interest  to  her  now ! 

"  Mrs.  Lindsay  said  Grace  spoke  of  you  in  her 
last  letter,"  Jasper  went  on,  and  he  did  not  find 
his  subject  uninteresting.  On  the  contrary,  it 
made  him  unobservant  of  the  fact  that  Miss  Has- 
brook's  expression  did  not  brighten.  "  Grace  said 
she  should  love  you  and  be  grateful  to  you  all  her 
life,  Mrs.  Lindsay  told  me,  for  having  given  her 
organ  lessons  so  many  years." 

Miss  Lida  gave  a  little  cackling  laugh.  "  Then 
I  was  of  some  use  in  the  world  once,"  she  said. 

Now  her  nephew  did  stare  at  her.     If  she  had 


THE   NEW   ORGAN  163 

broken  out  with  a  remark  in  Latin  it  would  not 
have  been  more  uncharacteristic  than  this  speech, 
and  Jasper  would  have  understood  her  better ;  for 
he  knew  a  little  Latin  and  he  did  not  know  Miss 
Hasbrook  at  all  in  her  present  mood. 

It  was  not  until  the  next  day  that  the  cause  of 
her  trouble  dawned  upon  the  unimaginative  mind 
of  her  nephew.  The  idea  came  to  him  all  on  a 
sudden,  as  he  was  returning  from  the  village  store, 
and  he  stopped  stock  still  to  give  a  low  whistle. 
The  young  man  loved  his  aunt  sincerely,  and  he 
glowed  with  compassion  in  a  moment;  but  when 
he  reached  home  he  did  not  refer  to  the  subject, 
although  Miss  Hasbrook  was  still  white  and  list- 
less, and  he  saw  that  she  moved  about  her  work  as 
though  the  mainspring  of  her  old,  energetic  activity 
were  broken.  Jasper  had  always  been  a  kind  and 
thoughtful  fellow,  so  although  he  was  especially 
gentle  to-day,  even  patting  Miss  Lida  on  the 
shoulder  as  he  passed  her  on  his  way  to  the  table, 
she  believed  her  secret  was  still  her  own.  A  new 
ambition  had  replaced  the  one  so  long  cherished 
in  her  breast,  and  was  entertained  with  even 
greater  fire  :  it  was  to  prevent  any  one  from  sus- 
pecting that  she  had  ever  expected  to  preside  at 
the  new  organ. 

Affairs  moved  on  without  a  hitch  after  the  re- 
ception by  the  committee  of  Mr.  Peabody's  five 
dollars.  Time  flew  by,  at  least  so  it  seemed  to 
Miss  Hasbrook,  with  cruel  swiftness.  Her  wound 


164  THE   NEW    ORGAN 

had  not  healed,  when  one  fair  June  day  she  was 
invited  to  join  a  triumphant  and  select  few  to  take 
a  first  view  of  the  new  organ  at  last  in  its  place 
in  the  church. 

What  would  Miss  Lida  have  given  to  stay 
at  home !  But  such  a  course  was  not  to  be  con- 
sidered. "Folks  would  talk,"  indeed  they  had 
talked  already ;  for  her  altered  looks  could  not 
pass  unnoticed,  and  more  than  one  sympathizing 
fellow-worker  expressed  a  fear  that  the  new  organ 
had  about  killed  Lidy  Hasbrook.  So  it  had,  agreed 
the  ex-organist  in  her  own  proud,  hurt  heart,  but 
not  in  the  way  they  thought. 

She  attended  the  "  private  view,"  a  red  spot 
burning  in  either  cheek.  Jasper  was  present  as 
the  starter  of  the  enterprise,  and  Mr.  Peabody 
as  its  finisher.  The  latter  was  complacently  con- 
scious of  his  honors,  and  he  indulged  in  a  broad 
smile  of  satisfaction  as  he  passed  the  ends  of  his 
stubby  fingers  over  the  polished  wood  above  the 
stops  of  the  new  instrument. 

"  It 's  a  fine  orgin,"  he  said,  drumming  on  the 
dumb  white  keys. 

Near  him,  in  an  irregular  semicircle,  stood  the 
chief  workers  in  the  cause,  mostly  women,  their 
faces  expressing  in  their  several  ways  the  relief 
and  satisfaction  of  success  crowning  endeavor.  On 
Miss  Hasbrook's  lips  was  a  smile,  which  she  had 
rehearsed  before  her  looking-glass  for  days. 

A  shaft  of  sunlight  striking  through  a  neighbor- 


THE   NEW   ORGAN  165 

ing  window  illumined  Mr.  Peabody's  bald  head, 
and  intensified  his  air  of  being  the  organ's  patron 
saint. 

"Brother  Morse,  I  guess  we've  got  about  the 
right  thing/'  he  remarked,  turning  to  the  minister 
with  a  look  that  suggested  his  having  accomplished 
the  undertaking  single-handed.  Evidently  the 
beauty  of  the  new  possession  had  charmed  into 
quiet  the  fears  lately  entertained  of  the  new  ex- 
penses it  implied. 

"  I  long  to  hear  the  capabilities  of  the  instru- 
ment," replied  the  minister,  whose  patient,  kindly 
face  quite  glowed  with  satisfaction.  "Miss  Has- 
brook,  won't  you  allow  us  to  hear  the  voice  of  our 
beautiful  new  friend  ?  " 

Jasper  regarded  his  aunt  with  covert  anxiety. 
"  Do,  Aunt  Lidy,"  he  urged  with  the  habitual 
respect  of  manner  which  made  people  call  him  a 
model  nephew.  "  I  '11  be  very  happy  to  blow  for 
you,"  and  without  waiting  for  Miss  Hasbrook's 
reply,  the  young  man  disappeared  into  seclusion 
behind  the  organ. 

He  worked  at  the  bellows  with  a  right  good 
will ;  but  the  stored  wind  was  allowed  to  escape 
without  the  wings  of  melody.  Still  Jasper  began 
pumping  again.  He  believed  if  he  remained  out 
of  sight  and  hearing,  Aunt  Lidy  would  allow  her- 
self to  be  persuaded.  He  knew  she  must  long  to 
touch  that  tempting  keyboard. 

At  last,  in  the  midst  of  his  exertions,  he  heard 


THE   NEW   ORGAN 

the  pulling  of  stops.  "  There  !  "  he  said  to  him- 
self with  satisfaction,  as  the  music  began. 

But  what  music  was  this  ?  It  was  solemn,  full, 
unfamiliar.  Jasper  pumped  away  mechanically, 
his  whole  amazed,  bewildered  soul  given  up  to 
listening.  He  had  expected  to  hear  some  of  the 
tunes  he  knew  and  loved.  This  was  inexplicable. 
Suddenly,  delicate  and  smooth  runs  began  to  lace 
themselves  in  and  out  among  the  chords  of  the 
first  theme.  What  had  happened?  Had  the  new 
organ  proved  a  veritable  inspiration  ?  Had  fire 
from  heaven  descended  upon  Aunt  Lidy  and 
gifted  her  with  new  and  marvelous  powers  ? 

Jasper  could  scarcely  wait  for  the  time  to  emerge 
from  his  hermit  cell ;  and  when  the  last  chord  had 
died  away,  he  hastened  forth.  His  big  eyes  and 
eager  questioning  countenance  elicited  some  laugh- 
ter from  the  group  who  were  standing  about  com- 
menting. 

"  I  guess  that  raised  your  hair  some,  Jasper," 
remarked  Mr.  Peabody  airily,  waving  his  hand 
toward  the  organ-seat,  which  a  young  woman  had 
just  vacated. 

"  Who  —  what  ?  "  ejaculated  the  young  man, 
gazing  at  the  fresh  face  of  the  girl,  who  bowed  to 
him. 

"  Miss  Grace,  that  was  n't  you !  " 

"  Why,  yes,  't  was,  Mr.  Hasbrook,"  said  Mrs. 

Lindsay,  with  a  delighted  laugh.     "  We  came  up 

'here  just  as  you  were  going  out  of  sight,  and  being 


THE   NEW   ORGAN  167 

as  I  was  telling  brother  Nicholas  last  night  about 
Grace's  advantages,  he  insisted  she  should  show 
what  she  could  do  ;  and  she  's  astonished  me,  that 's 
a  fact."  The  woman  evidently  tried  to  repress  her 
effervescent  love  and  pride,  but  in  vain. 

Her  daughter's  earnest,  modest  face  looked  very 
sweet  as  she  turned  toward  Miss  Hasbrook,  pale 
and  rigid. 

"  Miss  Lida  was  about  to  play  herself,  I  thought," 
she  said, "  and  I  should  not  have  consented  to  take 
her  place  had  she  not  added  her  command.  I 
learned  long  ago  to  obey  Miss  Hasbrook  implicitly 
in  musical  matters,  for  what  I  owe  to  her  I  can 
never  express." 

This  tactful  confession  of  allegiance  struck  warm 
to  Jasper's  heart  for  his  aunt's  sake.  Miss  Lida 
felt  an  unacknowledged  balm  in  the  words  of  her 
old  pupil,  and  relaxed  unconsciously.  The  girl's 
performance,  although  nothing  remarkable  to  cul- 
tivated ears,  had  smitten  her  with  wonder  and  a 
species  of  despair.  She  had  never  heard  anything 
so  fine,  so  hopeless  to  emulate. 

"  It  is  very  good  of  you  to  remember  that  you 
owe  me  anything,"  she  murmured.  "  You  have 
left  your  poor  old  teacher  far  behind." 

The  girl's  kind  heart  grasped  intuitively  much 
of  that  which  was  passing  in  Miss  Hasbrook's 
mind.  All  her  life  she  had  known  the  latter  as 
the  musical  authority  of  Stapleton. 

"  If  I  can  do  anything  in  return  for  you,"  she 


1C8  THE   NEW   ORGAN 

said  softly,  "  you  know  how  happy  it  would  make 
me."  It  was  all  she  had  time  for  before  her  old 
friends  closed  around  her. 

Mr.  Peabody  seized  the  lapel  of  Jasper's  coat 
as  they  were  leaving  the  church. 

"  It  does  seem  's  if  't  was  almost  a  providence 
Grace  comin'  home  jest  now  with  so  much  lightnin* 
in  her  fingers,  as  ye  might  say,"  he  remarked. 
"  Sister  Lindsay  was  tellin'  me  last  night  how  it 
come  about.  I  was  all  sot  ag'in  Grace  spendin'  so 
much  time  at  that  academy,  but  it  seems  ther'  was 
a  girl  there  without  any  head  to  speak  of  fer  'rith- 
metic ;  an'  Grace  she  tootered  her,  as  they  call  it, 
an'  the  girl's  brother,  bein'  the  best  orginist  o'  the 
place,  paid  her  back  in  lessons,  an'  give  her  a 
chance  to  practice.  Now  it 's  in  my  mind,  Jasper, 
that  the  committee  —  you  're  one  of  'em,  I  take 
it  —  could  n't  do  better  than  to  hire  Grace  Lind- 
say to  play  the  new  orgin.  Ye  can  get  her  cheap. 
Now  you  think  on  't.  Ye  can  get  her  cheap." 

Jasper  nodded  his  head  and  disengaged  himself 
from  the  detaining  hand.  The  old  man's  eager- 
ness disgusted  him.  He  could  read  in  his  unusual 
complacency  the  relief  of  the  miserly  soid  in  seeing 
himself  delivered  from  the  necessity  of  corning  to 
the  further  aid  of  his  widowed  sister. 

Jasper  observed  his  aunt  attentively  when  she 
returned  home  that  afternoon,  and  was  relieved  to 
see  a  look  in  her  face  more  natural  than  any  it 
had  worn  for  many  a  day. 


THE   NEW   ORGAN  169 

When  they  were  seated  at  the  tea  table  she 
spoke : — 

"  You  have  n't  said  a  word  about  Grace's  play- 
ing." 

"  No ;  I  was  waiting  for  you.  I  have  n't  the 
courage  to  comment  on  music  until  I  hear  what 
you  have  to  say  about  it." 

"  Fiddlesticks  !  "  Miss  Hasbrook  passed  him  a 
cup  of  tea.  "  What  do  you  suppose  I  found  under 
the  cushion  of  the  organ-seat  in  the  parlor  yester- 
day? I  thought  I  'd  been  hearing  you  play  some 
unfamiliar  tunes  lately.  I  guess  you  've  got  some 
independent  ideas  about  music." 

Her  nephew  smiled  at  his  plate  with  quiet 
amusement. 

"  I  was  n't  hiding  that  Episcopal  Hymnal  from 
you.  I  thought  it  might  be  an  unorthodox  sight 
for  some  of  the  neighbors." 

"  Well,  Jasper  Hasbrook,  let  me  tell  you  that 
was  a  fine  performance  of  Grace  Lindsay's  to-day." 

"  It  seemed  so  to  me." 

Miss  Lida  cleared  her  throat.  "  She  's  offered 
to  give  me  some  lessons,"  she  said ;  then,  as  her 
nephew  observed  a  non-committal  silence,  added, 
"  I  don't  know  as  I  should  look  very  well  taking 
lessons  at  my  time  of  life  ;  "  but  the  trembling  of 
Miss  Lida's  hand  belied  her  indifferent  words  as 
she  seized  the  pot  and  spilled  the  tea  into  her 
saucer  while  she  poured. 

"  Nonsense  to  talk  about  your  time  of   life," 


170  THE  NEW   OPGAN 

returned  Jasper  heartily.  "  Turn  about  's  fair 
play.  It  might  interest  you  to  learn  the  use  of 
the  pedals." 

Miss  Hasbrook  looked  up  furtively.  A  crimson 
tide  rose  in  her  face,  and  longing  she  could  not 
repress  shone  in  her  eyes. 

There  was  a  moment's  silence,  then  Jasper  spoke 
again :  — 

"  Did  any  plan  for  Grace  come  into  your  mind 
while  she  was  playing,  Aunt  Lidy  ?  " 

She  looked  at  him  sharply,  suspiciously  now, 
and  her  face  grew  pale  again.  "  Speak  out,  if  you 
have  anything  to  say,"  she  said  coldly. 

"  No,"  he  answered  calmly.     "  I  have  n't." 

Miss  Hasbrook  began  crimping  the  edge  of  her 
napkin  by  pinching  it  in  fine  folds.  "  I  should 
think  you  or  Mr.  Morse  or  any  other  of  the  music 
committee  who  was  there  might  have  had  thoughts 
if  you  'd  been  bright,"  she  said  at  last,  with  evi- 
dent effort.  "  It 's  plain  enough  that  Grace  Lind- 
say can  play  that  organ ;  and  she  's  right  here  in 
town." 

"It  is  a  good  idea,"  returned  Jasper  quietly, 
"  and  coming  from  you  will  have  weight.  There 
is  to  be  a  meeting  of  the  committee  to-morrow 
evening.  I  thought  it  would  be  well,  perhaps, 
for  me  to  be  able  to  tell  them  that  it  was  your 
suggestion  that  Miss  Lindsay  be  engaged  as  or- 
ganist." 

Miss  Hasbrook  gave  him  one  quick  look,  ques- 


THE   NEW   ORGAN  171 

tioning  and  comprehending  all  at  once.  She  pushed 
her  chair  back  from  the  table  and  came  around 
to  his  place.  Then  she  embraced  his  neck  and 
nervously  drew  his  head  close  to  her  fast-beating 
heart  for  one  instant. 

"  Thank  you,  Jasper,"  she  said  unsteadily. 

There  was  no  dissenting  voice  in  the  matter, 
and  Grace  Lindsay  at  once  assumed  her  new  du- 
ties. Twice  every  week  she  and  Miss  Hasbrook 
had  what  she  termed  a  little  practice  together,  and 
making  acquaintance  with  the  beautiful,  resource- 
ful instrument  caused  the  sun  to  shine  again  for 
Miss  Lida. 

The  sun  shone  more  brightly  for  her  nephew, 
too,  now  that  Grace  had  returned  ;  and  yet  he 
felt  as  though  she  had  grown  away  from  him  in 
those  years  of  city  experience,  which  had  clothed 
her  with  a  subtle  something  that  divided  them. 
They  had  been  boy  and  girl  sweethearts.  His 
sled  had  always  been  at  her  service,  his  biggest 
red  apple  was  always  saved  for  her ;  but  though 
her  development  in  all  directions  now  appealed 
more  and  more  to  the  natural  refinement  of  his 
nature,  he  dared  not  expect  to  please  her  with 
his  plodding  home-staying  ways. 

She  came  out  from  the  church  where  she  had 
been  practicing,  late  one  warm  July  afternoon, 
and,  locking  the  door  after  her,  turned  quickly, 
and  saw  Jasper  stretched  in  the  shade,  book  in 
hand. 


172  THE   NEW   ORGAN 

"Do  you  mind  this  eavesdropping?"  he  asked, 
as  he  met  her  surprised  gaze. 

"  Oh,  no."  Grace  spoke  quietly.  She  always 
had,  from  her  demure  little  girlhood. 

"What  was  that  last  thing  you  played?"  he 
asked  again,  rising. 

"A  Communion  by  Batiste." 

"  It  was  beautiful.  I  want  to  thank  you,  Grace, 
for  your  kindness  to  Aunt  Lidy.  I  don't  believe 
you  know  how  much  it  is  to  her  and  to  me  that 
you  have  brought  so  much  pleasure  into  her  life. 
I  have  n't  had  a  good  chance  to  speak  of  it  be- 
fore." 

The  girl's  eyes  looked  away  from  the  warmth  of 
the  young  man's  gaze.  "  You  make  me  very 
happy  by  telling  me  so." 

"  The  idea  that  I  should  be  able  to  make  you 
happy,  even  for  a  moment,  Grace!  "  he  burst 
forth,  with  such  ardor  that  the  delicate  flush  in  his 
companion's  cheeks  deepened.  "  I  fear  you  find 
Stapleton  duller  than  it  used  to  seem  before  you 
went  away,"  he  added. 

"  It  is  the  same  old  place,"  she  answered,  "  and 
there 's  no  place  like  home,  you  know,  Jasper, 
especially,"  she  added  with  a  smile,  "  when  there 
is  a  good  organ  in  it." 

"  Then  bless  the  organ !  "  he  ejaculated. 

"  Good-by,"  she  said  with  some  haste.  Her  old 
playfellow's  eyes  were  rather  too  expressive. 

He  looked  after  her  as  she  went,  not  daring  to 


THE  NEW   ORGAN  173 

follow  her  this  time,  although  on  many  a  subse- 
quent occasion  when  she  found  him,  book  in  hand, 
waiting  for  her  on  the  steps,  he  walked  home  with 
her  to  the  gate,  to  the  alert  interest  of  all  the 
neighbors. 

These  interested  friends  exchanged  notes  and 
came  to  the  decision  that  Jasper  ought  to  speak 
long  before  the  young  man  himself  mustered  suffi- 
cient courage.  It  was  after  Christmas  before  he 
decided  that  for  his  peace  of  mind  he  must  force 
the  demure  guard  with  which  Grace  Lindsay  al- 
ways defended  herself,  and  find  out  what  was  her 
real  feeling  for  him.  She  was  so  friendly  so  long 
as  he  was  friendly,  and  so  startled  and  shrinking 
the  moment  he  displayed  the  least  ardor,  that  it  is 
little  wonder  he  dreaded  to  cross  the  Rubicon. 

His  love  had  in  it  such  an  element  of  tender- 
ness, he  so  respected  the  timidity  from  which  he 
suffered,  that  when  the  moment  arrived  beyond 
which  suspense  became  unbearable,  he  would  not 
put  his  question  to  that  grave,  blushing  face,  but 
one  Saturday  wrote  Grace  a  letter.  He  urged  his 
suit  warmly,  and  at  the  last  said :  "  You  will  want 
a  day  to  decide.  If  there  is  hope  for  me,  play, 
at  evening  service  to-morrow,  my  favorite  Batiste 
Communion.  I  shall  understand." 

He  sent  the  letter  by  a  messenger  to  Mrs.  Lind- 
say's cottage,  and  waited  with  what  patience  he 
could  command  for  the  morrow.  On  Sunday 
morning  it  was  not  altogether  a  pleasant  surprise 


174  THE   NEW   ORGAN 

to  see  enter  the  church  with  Miss  Lindsay  a 
strange  young  man,  who  ascended  with  her  to  the 
organ  loft,  and  remained  seated  near  her  through- 
out the  service. 

Jasper,  following  his  own  plan,  made  no  effort 
to  speak  or  even  to  bow  to  Grace.  He  walked 
home  from  church  alone,  —  Miss  Hasbrook  was  ill 
with  a  cold,  —  a  prey  to  forebodings.  The  strange 
man  was  evidently  an  intimate  friend.  What 
might  his  coming  mean  ?  What  did  Jasper  know 
of  the  ties  the  quiet  girl  he  loved  might  have 
formed  during  her  long  stay  afar  from  Stapleton  ? 
As  the  slow-moving  afternoon  wore  away,  possi- 
bilities which  it  crushed  him  to  credit  became  more 
and  more  probabilities  to  the  young  man's  mind. 
By  the  time  for  evening  service  he  scarcely  felt 
courage  sufficient  to  take  him  to  church ;  but  he 
finally  went,  heavy  hearted  and  heavy  footed.  He 
was  a  little  late  when  he  reached  the  door,  and  as 
it  swung  back  to  admit  him  with  a  rush  of  icy 
winter  air,  an  electric  shock  ran  through  him. 
He  seized  the  door-post  an  instant  and  turned 
faint  in  the  warm,  bright  light.  The  familiar 
chords  of  the  Batiste  Communion  filled  the  church. 
Firm,  joyous,  solemn,  the  theme  rang  out.  Jasper 
bowed  his  head,  and  what  his  thoughts  were  in 
that  ecstatic  moment  of  reaction,  only  his  Maker 
knows. 

He  stood  until  the  last  loved  tone  melted  into 
silence,  then  turned  and  went  out  again  into  the 


THE   NEW   ORGAN  175 

night.  He  walked,  he  knew  not  and  cared  not 
whither,  and  the  keen,  frosty  air  was  powerless  to 
cool  his  glowing  cheeks. 

This  very  night  he  would  see  her,  if  only  for  a 
minute ;  and  at  the  time  he  judged  the  folk  would 
all  be  returning  from  church  he  turned  his  fleet 
steps  toward  the  Lindsay  cottage.  A  light  was 
burning  in  the  parlor.  His  intimacy  at  the  house 
warranted  his  entering  unannounced,  and  by  so 
doing  he  might  succeed  in  seeing  Grace  alone  for 
a  golden  moment. 

He  quietly  went  in  and  opened  the  parlor  door. 
His  dearest  hope  was  realized.  There  sat  Grace 
by  the  table,  alone.  One  moment  he  stood  gazing 
at  her,  with  adoring,  proud  eyes. 

She  glanced  up.  "  Jasper  !  "  she  exclaimed, 
startled  and  springing  to  her  feet. 

In  an  instant  he  was  beside  her,  and  she  was 
clasped  in  his  arms.  He  kissed  her  lips,  her  brow, 
her  hair. 

"  My  darling !  My  darling !  "  escaped  from  his 
overflowing  heart. 

"Jasper!"  she  exclaimed  breathlessly,  pushing 
him  from  her  with  both  hands. 

"  What !  Not  yet  ?  "  he  said  fondly,  possessing 
himself  of  the  two  trembling  hands.  "  You  are 
not  vexed  that  I  did  not  wait  to  walk  home  from 
church  with  you  ?  I  could  not.  Your  guest  " 

"I  —  I  have  n't  been  to  church  to-night." 

"Whatt" 


176  THE  NEW   ORGAN 

"  Oh,  what  is  the  matter,  Jasper  ?  Don't ! 
You  frighten  me." 

His  eyes  looked  fierce  in  his  pale  face,  and  when 
he  spoke  his  voice  was  husky.  "  Grace,  the  Com- 
munion was  being  played  when  I  went  into  church 
to-night.  Is  this  some  trick  ?  " 

"  Indeed,  I  knew  nothing  of  it,"  returned  the 
girl,  trembling,  and  not  attempting  to  release  the 
hands  he  still  held.  "  I  was  ill,  and  my  teacher, 
Mr.  Harvey,  was  here  on  a  visit  and  offered  to 
play  in  my  stead.  I  never  thought  of  his  choos- 
ing" —  her  head  drooped. 

"Then  I  have  only  to  ask  your  pardon,"  said 
Hasbrook  dryly,  dropping  her  hands. 

She  buried  her  face  in  them. 

"  Oh,  I  know  you  're  sorry  for  me,  Grace.  It 
was  a  little  mistake  that  could  n't  be  guarded 
against,  I  suppose." 

"  I  did  n't  know,"  stammered  the  girl,  her  face 
still  hidden.  "  I  was  n't  sure  until  "  —  she  looked 
slowly  up  —  "  Then  it  was  because  of  that  mis- 
take that  you  —  you  kissed  me  so  ?  " 

Hasbrook  stood,  tall  and  unyielding,  regarding 
her  stonily.  "  I  have  apologized,"  he  said  shortly. 
"  What  more  can  I  do  ?  I  can't  take  back  those 
kisses." 

She  looked  at  him  with  a  rapt  expression.  "  Yes 
—  you  can,"  she  breathed,  and  with  a  sigh  that 
was  half  a  sob  she  glided  into  his  arms. 

When   another  June  came    around   they  were 


THE  NEW   ORGAN  177 

married.  It  was  a  day  full  of  sunshine,  and  no 
wedding  march  ever  rang  more  joyously  than  that 
to  which  the  young  couple  left  the  church;  for 
Miss  Hasbrook  played  it  with  a  will,  and  she  was 
not  the  least  happy  of  the  wedding  party,  for  her 
little  feet  trod  laboriously  but  surely  among  the 
pedals  of  the  new  organ. 


A  THANKSGIVING   EEVIVAL 

"  IT  's  only  a  dinner,"  said  Charles  Maynard, 
Jr.,  in  tones  of  impatience.  Charles  Maynard,  Sr., 
stood  over  against  him  on  the  hearth-rug  trying  to 
forget  for  the  time  being  his  admiration  for  the 
stalwart  proportions  of  his  only  child. 

"  I  tell  you  it 's  a  good  deal  more  than  that, 
young  man  !  "  he  returned  emphatically.  "  It 's  a 
sacred  rite,  is  Thanksgiving  dinner,  commemorating 
all  the  fortitude  and  trust  of  our  forefathers ;  and 
it  is  n't  going  to  be  kicked  into  oblivion  by  a  lot 
of  sporty  rascals  with  more  muscle  than  reverence ; 
not  in  my  house,  anyway." 

Charles  junior's  lips  twitched. 

"  We  only  want  to  kick  it  along  from  one  o'clock 
to  six ;  not  into  oblivion,"  he  replied.  "  This  foot- 
ball game  is  a  matter  of  local  pride,"  he  added. 

"  And  Thanksgiving  dinner  is  a  matter  of  na- 
tional pride  and  loyalty,"  retorted  Mr.  Maynard. 

"  Would  n't  do  away  with  it  for  the  world,"  said 
Charles.  "  Altogether  too  many  fond  memories 
cluster  around  it." 

Maynard  senior  raised  himself  on  his  toes  and 
shook  his  head.  "  The  trouble  with  the  rising 
generation  is  that  they  have  too  many  turkeys  and 


A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL  179 

too  much  plum  pudding.  You  're  all  blase.  You 
little  know  what  it  is  to  look  forward  for  weeks  to 
the  annual  feast  that  was  such  a  treat  in  my  young 
days." 

This  was  too  true.  Charles  junior  took  a  new 
tack.  "  The  Lansings  are  going  to  dine  at  six,"  he 
hazarded. 

Mr.  Maynard  snorted  contemptuously. 

"  Yes,  and  you  inquire  into  it  and  you  will  find 
that  they  '11  have  ice-cream  for  dessert.  Ice-cream," 
he  repeated  with  fine  scorn,  u  on  Thanksgiving 
Day !  I  tell  you  it  has  come  to  this  :  It 's  Man- 
hattan Field  vs.  Plymouth  Rock,  and  I  'm  for 
Plymouth  Rock  if  I  have  to  sit  down  to  my  one- 
o'clock  dinner  sole  alone." 

"  You  must  n't  do  that,  sir  ;  I  '11  dine  with  you 
myself  first." 

The  young  man's  face  was  serious  enough  now, 
and  indeed  his  father  knew  that  a  little  matter  of 
martyrdom  at  the  stake  was  not  to  be  compared 
with  this  offer  of  sacrifice. 

He  laughed.  "  It  is  n't  so  bad  as  that,  my  boy. 
You  must  go  to  the  game  with  your  sweetheart,  of 
course." 

"  But  neither  May  nor  I  could  enjoy  it  under 
those  circumstances." 

Mr.  Maynard  lost  himself  in  momentary  thought. 
He  was  recalling  the  days  of  his  youth. 

"  We  did  n't  know  much  about  football  in  Berry- 
ville,"  he  said.  He  smiled  as  memories  clustered 


180  A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL 

upon  him  thick  and  fast,  but  Charles  junior  con- 
tinued to  look  serious. 

For  a  long  minute  the  two  stood  silent  in  the 
richly  furnished  room.  The  youth  was  chafing 
under  his  elder's  conservatism  and  obstinacy,  but 
at  last  a  flash  lit  up  the  countenance  of  Maynard 
senior.  "  I  have  it !  "  he  said,  and  he  brought  his 
hands  together  with  a  resounding  slap.  "Go  on 
to  your  ball  game  with  May  Lansing,  and  eat  ice- 
cream with  her  afterward." 

"  But  you  "  - 

'*  Don't  waste  a  thought  on  me,  my  boy." 

"  You  '11  come  to  the  game  ?  " 

"  Not  much  I  won't !  I  '11  take  care  of  myself. 
Ask  me  no  questions.  I  '11  tell  you  all  about  it 
afterward." 

Mr.  Maynard  laughed  again.  His  new  idea  had 
evidently  cleared  away  all  his  pessimism  regarding 
the  rising  generation. 

Miss  Lucinda  Parsloe  was  a  respected  citizen  of 
that  Berryville  to  which  Mr.  Maynard's  thoughts 
had  so  wistfully  returned,  and  no  one  respected  her 
more  highly  than  Miss  Parsloe  herself. 

The  neighbors  all  fell  in  meekly  with  this  self- 
esteem,  —  all  except,  perhaps,  Mrs.  Mortimer ;  and 
that  coquettish  widow,  having  lived  her  married 
life  away  from  the  little  New  England  village,  had 
lost  some  of  its  habits,  an  unquestioning  submission 
to  Lucinda  Parsloe  being  among  them. 


A    THANKSGIVIXG   REVIVAL  181 

She  and  her  sister  Abbie  and  Lucinda  had  in 
their  youth  been  inseparable  companions  until  Ella 
Deering's  attitude  toward  the  opposite  sex  aroused 
Lucinda' s  righteous  wrath.  Men  and  boys  had 
always  been  few  enough  in  Berryville,  and  when- 
ever one  of  the  rare  birds  approached  this  trio, 
collectively  or  individually,  it  was  always  Ella  who 
succeeded  at  last  in  monopolizing  him. 

Abbie  never  thought  of  resenting  this. 

"  You  know  Ella  has  such  a  pretty  dimple  and 
such  a  way  with  her,"  she  used  to  say. 

But  Lucinda  glowered,  fully  believing  that  her 
wrath  was  all  on  account  of  gentle,  forgiving 
Abbie,  as  in  one  case,  and  that  the  most  flagrant 
of  all,  it  certainly  had  been. 

Only  Ella's  sudden  marriage  to  a  Mr.  Mortimer, 
whom  the  volatile  girl  met  while  on  a  visit  to 
Boston,  saved  the  friends  from  coming  to  open 
rupture. 

Now  twenty  years  had  passed.  Ella  was  a 
plump  and  pleasing  widow,  tlus  autumn  at  home 
on  a  visit  to  her  sister.  She  still  had  the  dimple, 
and  still  the  alluring  "  way,"  and  she  thought 
Abbie  an  absurdly  quiet  little  mouse,  and  told 
her  so. 

"  Berryville  is  a  hole,  nothing  but  a  hole ;  it 
ought  to  be  spelled  Buryville,  and  Abbie  runs  back 
into  it  just  as  fast  as  I  get  her  to  Boston,"  she 
complained  to  Lucinda,  when  the  latter  came  to 
call. 


182  A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL 

Miss  Parsloe  did  not  relish  this  contempt  for  the 
place  of  her  birth  and  residence. 

"  Tastes  differ,"  she  remarked  dryly.  "  Why 
don't  you  revenge  yourself  by  running  back  to 
Boston  when  Abbie's  back  is  turned  ?  " 

"  Oh,  you  snubby  old  Lucy ! "  rejoined  Mrs. 
Mortimer  gayly. 

Lucinda  was  not  sorry  when  one  day  soon  after- 
ward she  saw  Abbie  Deering  come  into  her  gate 
alone. 

"  Ella  had  a  headache,"  explained  Miss  Deering, 
when  greetings  had  been  exchanged. 

"  That 's  all  right,"  was  Lucinda's  rather  star- 
tling response,  and  they  sat  down  for  a  cozy  chat. 
"  Ella  's  the  same  old  sixpence,  ain't  she  ?  " 

"  I  don't  think  she  changes  much,"  replied  the 
guest  gently.  There  are  few  people  so  preemi- 
nently gentle  as  Abbie  Deering.  If  it  were  only  a 
matter  of  picking  up  the  scraps  from  a  littered 
carpet,  she  seemed  to  caress  each  raveling. 

Miss  Parsloe  was  her  opposite  in  every  respect. 
Thick-set,  strong,  almost  brawny  in  build  and 
muscle,  she  sat,  regarding  her  slender,  fair-haired 
maiden  guest  with  the  bridling  suspicion  which  the 
neighborhood  of  Mrs.  Mortimer  always  awoke  in 
her. 

"  Ella  having  as  good  a  time  as  ever  ? "  she 
asked. 

"  She  seems  as  happy  as  the  average.  She  has 
her  down  days." 


A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL  183 

"  Yes,  when  there  ain't  any  men  around  to  flirt 
with."  Miss  Parsloe  thought  it.  She  didn't  quite 
dare  to  say  it.  She  felt  in  Abbie's  atmosphere  a 
defense  of  Ella. 

"  I  've  always  thought,  and  I  always  shall  think, 
that  I  have  her  to  thank  that  you  ain't  my  cousin 
this  minute.  You  needn't  purse  your  lips.  I 
ain't  backbiting  her.  I  'd  just  as  soon  say  it  to  her 
face." 

The  lace  in  Miss  Deering's  sleeve  trembled 
visibly,  and  she  lost  color  so  suddenly  that  Lucinda 
was  startled  at  the  effect  of  her  own  words. 

"  I  am  surprised  at  you,"  said  Abbie,  sitting  up 
stiffly.  "  You  would  n't  —  you  could  n't  hurt  me 
more  than  by  speaking  of  that  to  Ella." 

"  I  won't,  then."  Miss  Parsloe  replied  hastily 
with  the  feeling  that  she  had  been  guilty  of  out- 
rageous intrusion.  She  talked  on  with  unwonted 
embarrassment.  "  There  's  no  gainsaying  that  it 
is  a  power  to  have  Mrs.  before  your  name." 

"  We  have  done  very  well  without  it,  Lucinda," 
returned  the  guest.  She  had  regained  her  poise 
with  quick  self-control. 

"  Oh,  I  've  no  complaint  to  make,"  replied  her 
friend,  with  a  toss  of  the  head,  "  but  it 's  queer,  all 
the  same.  Take  a  widow ;  she 's  ten  times  as  likely 
to  get  married  as  a  single  woman  the  same  age." 

Abbie  Deering  colored  a  little,  and  her  eyes  had 
a  gentle  twinkle.  She  was  getting  up  her  courage 
to  say  something  funny.  "  '  He  that  hath  a  goose 


184  A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL 

shall  get  a  goose,'  you  know,"  she  remarked  at 
last. 

Miss  Parsloe's  laugh  was  deafening  applause. 
"  Pretty  good,  Abbie,"  she  responded.  "  Only  in 
this  case  it  ought  to  be  changed  to  '  She  that  hath 
had  one  goose  shall  get  another,'  ha,  ha,  ha  f  " 

Miss  Deering  joined,  blushing,  in  her  friend's 
noisy  mirth,  and  her  ears  were  the  quicker  to  hear 
a  determined  thumping  at  the  back  door  of  the 
cottage. 

"  Somebody  at  the  door,  Lucinda."  Miss  Parsloe 
rose,  and  her  laughter  trailed  through  the  kitchen 
as  she  went,  then  it  died  suddenly.  In  a  minute 
she  returned,  her  face  long,  and  in  her  hand  a 
yellow  envelope,  unfamiliar  to  her  experience. 

"  It 's  a  telegram,  Abbie,"  she  said  in  a  changed 
voice.  "  I  thought  I  'd  rather  be  with  somebody 
when  I  opened  it." 

Her  guest  sat  up,  wide-eyed  and  sympathetic,  as 
the  message  was  unfolded,  but  Lucinda's  stern 
face  was  at  first  inscrutable.  Gradually  it  re- 
laxed. The  telegram  was  a  long  one,  and  with  a 
suppressed  exclamation  she  re-read  it,  then  looked 
with  a  strange  smile  at  Abbie. 

"  No  bad  news  ?  "  said  the  latter  tentatively. 

Miss  Parsloe  started.  "That  boy's  waiting. 
I  must  send  an  answer." 

She  scribbled  something  on  a  sheet  of  paper. 
"  Mine  is  n't  so  long  as  the  other,"  she  remarked  ; 
then  she  held  it  off  and  read  aloud  the  six  words 


A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL  185 

she  had  written :  "  You  guessed  right  the  first 
time."  With  another  triumphant  look  at  her 
guest  she  left  the  room. 

It  was  an  extraordinary  telegram  certainly,  but 
Miss  Deering  was  determined  not  to  show  any 
curiosity.  She  knew  Lucinda's  love  of  having  and 
keeping  a  secret,  and  she  "  would  not  give  her  the 
satisfaction." 

"  You  're  not  going  ?  "  protested  her  hostess, 
returning. 

"  Yes.     I  promised  Ella  not  to  stay  long." 

"  Well,  I  'm  sorry.  Look  here,  Abbie,  you 
haven't  forgotten  you're  to  dine  with  me  on 
Thanksgiving  Day  ?  " 

"  But  now  that  Ella  is  here  "  - 

"  All  the  more  reason.  We  three  will  renew 
our  youth  and  have  a  good  time." 

"  Thank  you  then,  Lucinda,  if  you  really  want 
us." 

Left  alone,  Miss  Parsloe  again  opened  her  tele- 
gram and  read  it  with  lively  appreciation :  — 

"I  am  coming  to  eat  Thanksgiving  dinner  with  you. 
Turkey,  white  and  sweet  potatoes,  squash,  boiled  onions, 
cranberry  sauce  —  plum  pudding,  mince,  pumpkin,  apple, 
and  cranberry  pies.  Cider,  nuts,  and  raisins. 

CHARLES  MAYSTARD." 

"  It 's  ten  years  since  I  laid  eyes  on  him,"  she 
mused.  "  He 's  a  lone,  lorn  man  if  he  is  rolling 
in  money.  I  guess  he  's  homesick  at  last." 


186  A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL 

Then  the  consideration  of  her  own  concise  wit 
in  the  framing  of  her  reply  overcame  her,  and  she 
yielded  again  to  breathless  laughter. 

Was  it  right  to  surprise  Abbie  so  ?  The  amount 
of  feeling  her  friend  had  shown  at  the  mention  of 
that  old-time  rivalry  made  her  hesitate  an  instant. 

"  Oh,  I  '11  risk  it,"  she  decided.  "  Abbie  did  n't 
want  any  unpleasantness.  That  was  all." 

It  was  after  eleven  o'clock,  Thanksgiving  morn- 
ing, when  Miss  Parsloe's  strong  hands  were  locked 
in  those  of  her  cousin,  and  she  pumped  his  arms 
up  and  down,  while  they  scanned  each  other's  faces 
in  a  high  state  of  contentment. 

"  I  thought  most  likely  you  would  n't  think  about 
church,  so  I  stayed  home.  It 's-  all  on  your  con- 
science, Charles." 

"  I  have  n't  any  conscience  to-day.  I  'm  all 
stomach,  Lucinda." 

"  Have  you  seen  anybody  you  knew  ?  " 

"  Not  a  soul.  New  man  at  the  station.  Every- 
body else .  at  church,  perhaps ;  but  the  village  is 
here.  I  don't  see  how  I  've  stayed  away  so  long !  " 

Mr.  Maynard  crossed  over  to  the  base-burner 
stove  and  stood  before  it  with  his  hands  crossed 
behind  him.  Chill  airs  crept  around  the  windows, 
and  the  colors  of  the  ingrain  carpet  were  crude. 
The  furniture  was  covered  with  haircloth. 

In  his  New  York  house  the  atmosphere  was 
evenly  and  moderately  warm  by  favor  of  the  latest 


A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL  187 

heating  appliances.  The  carpets  were  thick  and 
the  furniture  luxurious  ;  but  Mr.  Maynard  was  not 
homesick.  He  looked  about  him  in  wonder  that 
decades  could  pass  and  no  appreciable  change  be 
found  in  the  condition  of  his  native  village.  Lu- 
cinda  must  have  some  new  chairs.  That  was 
certain. 

He  turned  to  meet  again  the  eyes  that  had  been 
gazing  at  him  with  such  admiring  delight,  but 
during  his  short  reverie  Miss  Parsloe  had  disap- 
peared. 

"  Glad  to  see  you,  girls !  "  he  heard  her  strong 
voice  say.  "  Lay  off  your  things  in  the  bedroom." 

He  heard  a  buzz  of  reply  and  a  quick  frown 
gathered  on  his  brow.  His  anticipations  were  de- 
molished. How  colossally  stupid  of  Lucinda ! 
She  had  invited  guests.  Girls,  too  !  Oh,  bore  of 
bores !  Why  had  he  set  this  trap  for  himself  and 
walked  into  it  ? 

His  genial  face  and  attitude  had  disappeared; 
it  was  the  starched  and  repellent  man  of  affairs  to 
whom  Lucinda  now  ushered  in  her  guests. 

She  was  too  triumphant  in  her  successful  coup 
to  observe  the  change  in  him. 

"  Well,"  she  said,  beaming  upon  the  women, 
"  1  don't  suppose  I  need  to  make  any  introductions 
here." 

Mrs.  Mortimer's  face  lighted  at  sight  of  the 
surprising  apparition  of  a  correctly  dressed  man ; 
but  it  was  plain  that  neither  recognized  the  other. 


188  A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL 

Lucinda's  glance  traveled  back  to  Abbie,  who 
came  last,  and  whose  changed,  pinched  face  gave 
her  a  shock. 

"  I  'm  a  fool ! "  she  thought,  with  a  pang. 
"  Here ;  go  back,  go  back,"  she  said,  pushing  Miss 
Deering  out  into  the  friendly  shade  of  the  little 
hall.  "  One  at  a  time  !  " 

Then,  returning  into  the  parlor :  "  Do  you  two 
folks  mean  to  say  you  don't  know  each  other  ?  " 

The  stony  mask  of  the  man's  face  had  begun  to 
soften.  There  were  mischievous  lights  in  the 
widow's  eyes,  and  her  dimple  began  to  play. 

"  Why,  Charlie  —  Mr.  Maynard  I  "  she  ex- 
claimed. 

"  Ella  Deering,  as  I  live !  But  you  married 
somebody." 

"  So  did  you  !  "  The  smiling  retort  was  accom- 
panied by  a  decided  squeeze  of  the  banker's  fin- 
gers. "  But  I  am  Mrs.  Mortimer,  if  plain  4  Ella ' 
won't  do  any  longer." 

"As  if  anybody  ever  dared  call  you  'plain 
Ella ' !  Then  the  other  lady  was  your  sister." 

Here  Abbie  glided  silently  and  with  a  sort  of 
desperate  swiftness  into  the  room,  and  met  his  out- 
stretched hand  with  her  own  cold,  thin  one. 

"  This  is  a  great  surprise,  Mr.  Maynard,"  she 
said,  scarcely  lifting  her  eyes,  and  wondering,  oh, 
wondering,  at  Lucinda's  brutality.  "  She  could  n't 
have  known.  She  couldn't  have  understood," 
thought  Abbie. 


A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL  189 

Her  sister  chatted  on  volubly,  and  as  they  all 
moved  on  to  the  dining-room,  Ella  monopolized 
the  guest  of  honor. 

For  once  Lucinda  was  grateful  to  her.  That 
independent  and  stirring  individual  was  sustaining 
an  unwonted  attack  of  humility.  She  regained 
her  forces,  however,  as  Abbie  regained  hers. 

The  dinner,  Mr.  Maynard  averred,  was  ideal 
and  orthodox  in  every  particular. 

Mrs.  Mortimer  and  Miss  Deering,  being  as  inti- 
mately associated  with  his  youth  as  Lucinda  her- 
self, were  an  assistance,  instead  of  a  drawback,  in 
that  season  of  reminiscence  which  he  had  promised 
himself ;  and  three  of  the  quartette  continued  to 
talk  with  undiminished  relish  until  late  into  the 
afternoon,  Abbie  Deering  listening  with  gentle 
and  responsive  attention,  and  answering  when 
spoken  to.  She  wondered  at  her  sister's  ease  and 
volubility.  "  It  might  be  different,  though,  if  one 
had  not  cared  for  him,"  she  thought  wistfully. 

Mr.  Maynard  walked  home  with  the  sisters. 
When  they  reached  the  gate  Mrs.  Mortimer  re- 
turned his  cordial  hand-clasp  with  interest. 

"  Let  us  see  a  great  deal  of  you  while  you  are 
here,  won't  you  ?  " 

It  was  the  first  time  that  the  thought  had  sug- 
gested itself  to  Mr.  Maynard's  mind  that  he  should 
not  go  immediately  back  to  New  York. 

"  Thank  you,"  he  answered  vaguely ;  then  turned 
toward  Abbie. 


190  A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL 

She  had  stepped  inside  the  gate,  and  to  an  in- 
convenient distance  for  shaking  hands,  so  he  stood 
with  his  hat  off  and  smiled  at  her. 

"  This  day  has  been  a  great  pleasure.  Would 
you  have  believed  we  could  look  so  clearly  across  a 
chasm  of  twenty  years  ?  " 

"  Yes.     I  have  not  forgotten." 

The  sight  of  him  standing  thus  stirred  such 
memories  that  the  answer  was  wrung  from  her; 
and  a  ring  in  her  quiet  voice  sounded  in  his  ears 
all  the  way  back  to  Miss  Parsloe's  cottage.  "  It 's 
a  wonder  Abbie  never  married,"  he  thought. 

As  he  strolled  on  in  the  frosty  twilight  his 
memory  continued  to  unfold  scenes  of  that  time 
when  these  women  were  girls,  and  when  ambition 
had  stirred  him  to  go  to  the  great  city  where  his 
employer's  daughter  fell  in  love  with  him  and  laid 
the  foundations  of  his  fortune.  A  sweet  woman, 
his  wife,  for  ten  years  now  only  a  memory. 

His  thoughts  had  veered  back  again  to  a  farther 
past  by  the  time  he  rejoined  Lucinda,  whose  brain 
had  been  in  commotion  during  his  absence. 

Her  dinner  had  been  more  of  a  success  than  she 
had  anticipated.  The  only  shadow  across  its 
brightness  was  the  thought  of  Abbie  and  the  evi- 
dence of  shock  which  she  had  overcome  so  bravely. 
In  striking  contrast  had  been  Mrs.  Mortimer's 
happily  excited  face  and  sparkling  eyes.  All  the 
little  resentments  of  the  past  seemed  seething  to- 
gether in  Lucinda's  breast  as  she  dwelt  upon  it. 


A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL  191 

All  her  jealousy  for  Abbie,  all  her  defense  of  her, 
were  in  arms  when  her  cousin  came  in. 

"  I  don't  know  when  I  've  had  such  a  good 
time,"  he  said  heartily.  "  It  is  n't  often  a  man 
can  reminisce  so  amicably  with  two  old  flames  at 
once.  New  friends  can  never  take  the  place  of 
old  ones." 

He  took  the  armchair  Miss  Parsloe  had  drawn 
forward  for  him. 

u  Oh,  you  remember  they  were  your  flames,  do 
you?" 

"  Of  course.  I  'm  a  little  mixed,"  humorously, 
4 '  as  to  which  one  favored  me  the  more." 

"You  are,  are  you?"  Lucinda's  tone  made 
him  look  up  surprised.  "  Oh,  I  suppose  it  ain't 
your  fault.  Men  are  built  that  way.  There  's 
poetry  that  talks  about  love  being  part  of  man's 
life  and  woman's  whole  existence.  I  've  laughed 
at  it,  but  there  are  women  it 's  true  of." 

Miss  Parsloe  warmed  to  her  subject.  While 
sitting  here  alone  she  had  been  recalling  half-for- 
gotten events  big  and  little,  which,  added  to  the 
overwhelming  feeling  exhibited  by  Abbie  to-day, 
satisfied  her  conscience  as  to  assuming  more  than 
she  was  absolutely  sure  of.  Charles  was  in  a  soft- 
ened mood,  tender  with  memories  of  the  past.  If 
he  would  ever  be  susceptible  to  such  flattery  as  she 
had  at  her  command  now  was  the  time  to  bring  it 
to  bear. 

He  looked  at  her  with  dawning  interest. 


192  A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL 

"  Ella  did  like  me  pretty  well,"  he  said. 

Lucinda  flashed  scorn  upon  him  for  a  silent 
moment.  "  Yes,  that 's  just  what  she  did  ;  liked 
you  pretty  well  while  you  were  in  sight.  Out  of 
sight,  out  of  mind,  instanter !  'T  ain't  her  fault. 
Her  mind  's  only  just  big  enough  to  hold  what  it 's 
looking  at.  Charles  Maynard,"  solemnly,  "  we 
ain't  young  folks.  There  ain't  a  reason  with  any 
common  sense  in  it  why  I  should  n't  tell  you  that 
there  has  n't  been  a  day  for  twenty  years  that 
you  've  been  out  of  Abbie  Deering's  mind.  I,  like 
a  fool,  let  her  come  here  to-day  unprepared.  Ella 
did  n't  know  you  at  first.  Abbie  did,  and  like  to 
fainted  away  where  she  stood.  She  's  had  one 
good  offer  that  I  know  of,  but  she  sent  the  man 
off,  so  's  she  could  go  on  worshiping  where  her 
heart  was,  in  secret  and  silence.  I  don't  know  as 
you  were  worth  it ;  I  don't  know  as  any  man  is, 
but  I  've  told  you  this  because  I  've  been  stupid 
and  cruel  to-day,  and  you  must  n't  go  on  and  do 
worse.  I  lotted  on  having  a  visit  of  several  days 
from  you,  but  now  I  want  you  to  get  back  to  New 
York  to-morrow  by  the  first  train  that  '11  take  you. 
You  know  it  comes  hard  on  me  to  say  it." 

It  was  a  risky  card  to  play.  Lucinda  knew  it. 
She  would  be  ready  to  bite  her  tongue  out  if  he 
took  her  at  her  word.  At  the  same  time  it  would 
be  worse  still  to  see  him  remain  to  be  entertained 
by  Ella  Mortimer.  If  he  stayed  now  it  would  be 
to  see  Abbie. 


A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL  193 

He  was  staring  at  her,  dumb  with  surprise, 
while  she  made  her  rapid  consideration. 

"  I  think  you  exaggerate,"  he  said  at  last. 

"  Think  so,  then  !  "  she  retorted,  fierce  with  hope 
and  apprehension. 

The  banker's  sleep  was  disturbed  that  night. 
He  was  haunted  by  the  tone  in  which  Abbie  had 
said  that  she  had  not  forgotten ;  haunted,  too,  by 
the  delicate  face  and  the  dove-eyes  that  had  avoided 
his  except  at  the  moment  of  parting. 

Bits  of  poetry  found  unwonted  paths  through 
his  brain,  and  this  was  one  of  the  scraps :  — 

''  For  beauty  is  easy  enough  to  win, 
But  one  is  not  loved  every  day  !  " 

The  next  afternoon  the  Deering  sisters  were 
sewing  in  their  room  when  Mrs.  Mortimer  gave  a 
joyful  exclamation  and  jumped  up :  — 

"  Here 's  Charlie  Maynard  in  a  buggy !  I 
did  n't  know  there  was  as  decent  a  rig  in  Berry- 
ville.  Do  tell  me,  Abbie,  do  I  look  best  in  my 
violet  hat  or  the  black  one  ?  Get  out  my  fur  cape 
for  me,  will  you,  dear?  Men  hate  to  be  kept 
waiting." 

Abbie  hastened  to  wait  on  her  sister,  her  heart 
beating  fast,  and  by  the  time  the  little  servant 
came  to  their  door  Ella  was  pinning  her  veil. 

"  Mr.  Maynard  wants  to  know  if  Miss  Deering 
will  go  driving  with  him." 

"  Yes,  I  '11  be  right  down,"  replied  Mrs.  Morti- 
mer abstractedly.  "  Where  are  those  tan  gloves  ?  " 


194  A    THANKSGIVING   REVIVAL 

"  No,  it 's  Miss  Deering  he  wants,"  repeated  the 
little  maid  grinning. 

The  widow  turned  about  sharply. 

"Very  well.  She  will  come,"  she  said,  and 
slammed  the  door  in  the  small  face. 

"  Oh,  I  can't,  Ella !  "  said  Abbie  breathlessly. 

"  You  can,  and  you  will."  Mrs.  Mortimer's 
eyes  were  shining  strangely.  She  dressed  Abbie  in 
her  own  cape,  put  in  her  bonnet  pins  for  her,  then 
turned  her  around  and  gazed  into  her  eyes. 

"  Would  n't  it  be  strange,  Abbie !  "  she  said. 

"  It  does  n't  mean  anything,  my  dear."  Miss 
Deering  was  striving  for  her  equanimity. 

"  I  used  to  play  you  selfish  tricks,"  said  Ella 
with  sudden  feeling.  "  You  've  cared  about  him 
all  along.  I  'm  glad  it 's  you." 

"  But  it  is  n't  I !  "  protested  Abbie,  so  prettily 
flushed  as  she  went  fluttering  down  the  staircase 
that  Mr.  Maynard,  waiting  at  the  door,  looked 
long  at  her,  his  head  uncovered. 

Hours  had  passed  before  they  returned ;  and 
the  spot  they  visited  ought  to  be  discovered,  for 
there  they  must  have  found  the  fountain  of  youth 
and  drunk  long  and  deep ;  for  the  light  that  shone 
henceforth  in  Abbie's  eyes  was  of  that  eternal 
youth  which  reigns  only  where  love  itself  is  life ! 


THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE 

"  GOOD-MORNING,  Mr.  Dobson,"  said  pleasant- 
faced  Mrs.  Billings,  standing  at  the  back  door  of 
her  seashore  cottage  as  the  carpenter  went  by. 

"  Good-mornin',"  he  answered,  the  smile  on  his 
shrewd,  humorous  countenance  so  genial  as  to  make 
one  forget  that  in  some  localities  it  is  customary  for 
a  man  to  remove  his  hat  in  addressing  a  woman. 

"  When  are  you  going  to  fix  my  screens,  Mr. 
Dobson  ?  " 

"  Duuno.  Got  a  jawb  on  hand  now  fer  an  old 
maid  down  Lowell  way.  Don't  dast  let  up  on  it 
fer  fear  she  '11  make  me  balder  'n  I  be.  Got  a  red- 
hot  must  after  me  these  days,  you  bet." 

In  spite  of  this  profession  of  haste,  Mr.  Dobson 
pushed  his  hat  back,  leaned  against  a  piazza  post, 
and  crossed  his  feet  leisurely  while  he  changed  a 
quid  of  tobacco  from  one  cheek  to  the  other. 

"  A  new  cottage  ?  Who  is  she  ?  "  asked  Mrs. 
Billings ;  for  on  this  little  island  in  Casco  Bay  a 
new  cottager  usually  meant  either  a  disagreeable 
interloper  or  a  new  member  of  the  family.  "  I  do 
hope  she  's  nice.  Old  maids  —  it 's  the  thing  to 
call  them  bachelor  maids,  Mr.  Dobson  —  they 
usually  are  nice." 


196        THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE 

"  Well,  this  one  means  to  stay  a  bachelor  now, 
and  don't  you  forget  it.  Hain't  you  noticed  that 
cawtage  we  've  started  up  thar  near  Stony  Beach  ? 
Must  be  ye  did  n't  have  yer  magnifyin'  glasses  with 

ye." 

"  Why  ?     Is  it  small  ?     Who  is  she  ?  " 

"  A  woman  by  the  name  o'  Blaine.  House  don't 
remind  me  o'  nawthin'  so  much 's  a  snail  shell. 
Miss  Blaine  can  carry  it  off  home  on  her  back  if 
she  wants  to,  come  autumn.  I  reckon  she  don't 
cal'late  to  have  no  visitors." 

Mr.  Dobson  was  right.  Miss  Lucilla  Blaine  did 
not  calculate  to  have  visitors.  On  the  contrary, 
while  perhaps  she  would  not  go  so  far  as  to  rig  a 
spring  gun  on  her  piazza  to  greet  possible  guests, 
she  intended  to  repel  with  decision  any  attempts 
to  be  neighborly  on  the  part  of  the  cottagers  al- 
ready settled  on  the  island. 

What  Miss  Blaine  did  want  was  to  get  away 
from  people ;  to  be  beholden  to  nobody ;  to  ex- 
change ideas  with  nobody ;  to  think  her  own 
thoughts,  to  read  her  own  books,  and  to  cook  her 
own  meals  undisturbed.  That  is,  she  believed  she 
wanted  this.  She  was  very  weary  of  her  life,  and 
longed  for  something  wholly  novel.  This  existence 
would  be  wholly  novel.  As  the  last  scion  of  a 
highly  respectable  and  well-to-do  New  England 
family,  she  was,  at  home,  always  more  or  less  under 
inspection.  She  often  said  to  herself  that  she  never 
had  any  real  privacy.  Even  when,  a  few  years 


THE    SUBJUGATION   OF   MISS   BLAIXE        197 

before,  her  niece  Marion,  her  adopted  daughter, 
ignored  her  commands,  and,  marrying  an  impe- 
cunious teacher,  went  off  with  him  to  Boston,  she 
could  not  openly  yield  to  the  blackness  of  her 
impotent  grief  and  anger,  but  was  obliged  with 
heroic  struggles  to  conceal  from  her  servants  and 
neighbors  the  extent  of  the  catastrophe. 

Here  then,  on  Gull  Island,  she  had  at  last  found 
the  place  she  wanted.  Not  a  servant  should  spy 
upon  her.  With  a  sort  of  fierce  triumph  she  fur- 
nished the  new  house,  steamed  the  clams  for  her 
first  dinner,  and  then  sat  out  on  the  piazza  facing 
the  sea,  casting  suspicious  glances  to  the  right  and 
to  the  left,  and  armed  to  the  teeth  with  mighty 
snubs  to  be  delivered  to  the  first  comer  who  should 
attempt  to  invade  her  tiny  castle.  Down  here  she 
had  no  reputation  to  lose,  and  she  was  determined 
to  reward  herself  for  bygone  repression  by  a  law- 
less riot  in  honesty. 

She  had  seen  to  it  that  she  would  have  no  near 
neighbors.  "  Moreover,  the  fools  will  all  believe 
me  poor,"  she  said  to  herself,  with  a  grim  smile. 
"  I  dare  say  I  shan't  have  much  trouble." 

She  did  not  have  much  trouble.  The  cottagers 
at  the  unfashionable  little  resort  were  there  for 
rest,  and  Miss  Blaine  found  that  a  mere  hint  was 
sufficient  to  secure  for  herself  uninterrupted  soli- 
tude. She  relaxed  her  guard,  and  for  a  while 
enjoyed  carrying  out  to  the  letter  the  plan  of.  her 
dreams ;  but  when  monotonous  weeks  had  passed, 


198        THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE 

she  sometimes  caught  herself  looking  up  from  her 
book  as  she  sat  on  the  piazza  to  watch  the  groups 
of  happy  friends  crossing  the  fields.  She  had 
often  noticed  in  her  distant  observations  that  the 
habitues  of  the  island  were  either  related  to  one 
another  or  else  were  congenial  spirits. 

"  God  setteth  the  solitary  in  families."  The 
text  slipped  into  her  mind  one  sunshiny  afternoon 
as  she  sat  there  alone;  but  she  shook  her  head. 
"  I  am  no  more  solitary  than  I  was  at  home,"  she 
thought,  with  sudden  defense ;  "  not  so  much  so  ; 
not  so  much  so!"  Then  she  dropped  her  book 
and  clasped  her  hands  over  her  eyes  with  a  climax 
of  feeling  that  life  was  sorrow. 

Thus  she  sat  for  a  minute,  lost  in  what  was  not 
thought,  rather  the  feeding  of  the  mind  on  the  bit- 
ter herbs  of  discontent,  longing,  and  regret. 

When  next  she  looked  up  she  found  herself  ob- 
served. Astonishment  at  the  figure  which  met  her 
view  held  her  for  a  moment  in  silence.  It  was  a 
small  boy  who  paused  beside  her  piazza.  He  wore 
coarse  blue  overalls  which  covered  him  from  shoul- 
der to  feet,  and  made  him  look  tall  for  his  four 
years.  On  his  head  was  a  cap  with  a  visor.  It 
was  rather  small  for  him,  and  set  slightly  askew 
on  his  close-cropped  hair.  His  feet  were  incased  in 
the  species  of  rubber  shoes  known  as  "sneakers," 
and  their  tread  on  the  soft  grass  had  been  so  noise- 
less as  to  be  undetected  even  by  Miss  Elaine's  sus- 
picious ears. 


THE   SUBJUGATION   OF   MISS   ELAINE        199 

Clasped  in  both  dimpled  hands  the  child  carried 
a  faded  and  streaked  parasol,  the  old  covering  of 
which  had  come  loose  from  two  of  its  ribs  and 
slipped  up,  revealing  their  black  bareness. 

Variety  shows  were  not  in  Miss  Elaine's  line. 
Had  they  been  she  would  have  seen  that  this  hand- 
some boy  looked  like  a  miniature  character  artist 
just  come  upon  the  stage  to  sing  in  broken  English 
a  song  concerning  the  "Vaterland."  The  russet 
and  rose  tints  of  his  complexion,  the  bewitching 
curves  of  his  grave  mouth,  and  above  all,  the 
direct  gaze  of  his  deep-blue  eyes  with  their  strongly 
marked  brows,  arrested  her  attention,  while  his 
garb  raised  only  the  disapproval  under  deep  layers 
of  which  her  sense  of  humor  lay  buried. 

Surprise  holding  her  silent  for  an  instant,  the 
child  spoke :  "  I  thought  you  were  crying,"  he 
said. 

"  What  have  you  come  here  for  ?  "  she  asked, 
and  her  brusque  tone  woidd  have  frightened  most 
children.  This  one  was  naturally  fearless  and  en- 
tirely inexperienced  in  harsh  words,  and  he  con- 
tinued to  regard  her. 

"  Because  I  hurt  the  baby,"  he  answered. 

Miss  Blaine  was  bewildered,  as  much  by  the 
direct,  unabashed  manner,  as  by  the  reply. 

"  How  did  you  hurt  it  ?  "  she  asked  involunta- 
rily. 

"  By  accident." 

"What  did  you  do?" 


200        TEE  SUBJUGATION  OF  MISS  ELAINE 

"  I  slapped  her." 

The  unexpected  response  came  near  to  stirring 
that  buried  sense  of  humor ;  but  after  all  it  was 
only  surprise  which  Miss  Elaine  felt.  She  drew 
back  in  her  chair  and  made  a  strange  grimace,  — 
a  sudden  drawing  together  of  her  features,  which 
caused  her  eyeglasses  not  to  drop,  but  to  leap 
from  her  high-bridged  nose  in  a  manner  which  her 
visitor  found  diverting.  His  gravity  vanished, 
and  he  laughed  aloud  with  every  evidence  of  lively 
interest. 

"  Please  do  that  again,"  he  said. 

Miss  Blaine  started.  She  had  no  idea  to  what 
the  child  referred.  In  her  bewilderment  at  his 
amusement,  she  replaced  her  glasses,  the  better  to 
see  what  it  was  all  about. 

Her  guest  suspended  his  laughter,  and  waited 
with  open-mouthed  anticipation  to  see  his  request 
granted. 

"  You  ought  not  to  have  come  here,"  said  Miss 
Blaine,  feeling  at  a  disadvantage,  and  speaking 
curtly. 

"  My  mamma  knows  I  came.  She  told  me  to 
take  a  walk  and  I  would  feel  better." 

There  was  an  unusual  exactness  about  this 
child's  speech  ;  precision  which  gave  every  syllable 
its  due.  Miss  Blaine  observed  it  with  wonder. 

"  Aunt  Jane  Billings  has  given  me  this  parasol 
to  use  as  long  as  I  am  at  the  island,"  he  pursued, 
looking  first  at  his  streaked  possession  with  fond 


THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE        201 

admiration,  and  then  at  his  new  acquaintance ; 
"  but  I  shall  not  carry  it  back  with  me  to  Amer- 
ica." 

Miss  Elaine  started  again,  and  again  her  glasses 
performed  their  acrobatic  feat. 

The  boy  broke  into  appreciative  laughter,  look- 
ing at  his  entertainer  delightedly.  Miss  Blaine, 
still  not  connecting  his  amusement  with  her  uncon- 
scious habit,  felt  herself  grow  warm,  and  wondered 
if  this  might  be  a  half-witted  child  whom  ill-luck 
had  sent  her  way. 

"  I  don't  know  who  your  mother  is,"  she  said 
sternly,  "  but  you  must  never  walk  in  front  of  my 
house.  I  am  Miss  Blaine.  Everybody  knows 
that  I  don't  want  people  walking  on  my  grass." 

The  boy  looked  at  her  doubtfully.  He  could 
hardly  believe  that  such  a  diverting  person  could 
be  serious.  His  prolonged  gaze  found  no  reas- 
surance, however ;  so  the  blue  legs  started  off 
meekly  toward  the  back  of  the  house. 

"  Good-by,  Miss  Blame,"  he  said  over  his  shoul- 
der. The  innocent  shaft  struck  home. 

The  lady  looked  after  the  quaint  little  figure 
until  she  saw  it  reach  Stony  Beach  and  sit  down 
among  the  pebbles. 

"  Good-by,  Miss  Blame."  The  phrase  looked 
up  at  her  like  an  accusation  from  the  book  she 
tried  to  read.  She  had  never  thought  of  herself 
as  a  bad-tempered  person.  Had  she  been  unneces- 
sarily severe  to  that  queer-acting  child  ? 


202        THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE 

She  did  not  stop  wondering  about  him,  and 
when  Mr.  Dobson  came  the  next  day  to  put  some 
additional  shelving  in  her  kitchen,  she  introduced 
the  subject  of  her  visitor  in  a  manner  which  she 
considered  artful. 

"  Oh  yes,  I  know  who  ye  mean,"  replied  the 
carpenter,  smiling.  "  Little  chap  's  a  German  ; 
leastways  his  father  is,  and  the  boy  's  heard  tell 
so  much  'bout  his  relations  t'  other  side  the  ocean 
he  thinks  'cause  he  come  'cross  the  water  in  a  boat 
to  git  t'  the  island  that  he 's  in  Europe  now. 
Funny  little  bugger.  I  like  to  hear  him  talk.  He 
ain't  any  common  sort  of  a  baby.  His  mother  's 
visitin'  up  to  Billin's.  Mis'  Billin's  ain't  any  rela- 
tion, they  tell  me,  but  the  boy  —  Hermann  his 
name  is  —  he  calls  her  aunt." 

All  things  considered,  Miss  Blaine  decided  that 
it  was  well  she  had  been  stern.  Any  kindness  to 
the  child  might  lead  to  becoming  involved  with 
the  neighbors. 

But  the  charm  of  her  hermit  life  was  waning. 
The  old  restlessness  was  asserting  itself,  and  when 
next  day  on  her  solitary  walk  she  happened  to 
meet  the  intrusive  child  in  his  outlandish  rig,  and 
he  gave  her  a  smiling  gaze  of  recognition,  she  re- 
turned his  look  curiously. 

"  I  have  been  feeding  the  pigs,"  he  announced, 
in  a  tone  which  showed  that  the  operation  had 
been  a  very  satisfactory  one. 

"  You  enjoyed  that,  did  you  ?  " 


THE   SUBJUGATIOX   OF   MISS   ELAINE        203 

"  Yes  ;  "  the  child's  face  beamed, 
apples  in  their  den  to  remuse  them, 
apples  are  apt  to  remuse  pigs." 

"  Humph  !  Very  apt  to,"  returned  Miss  Blaine. 
The  friendly  blue  eyes  held  her  with  a  novel 
charm.  "  I  guess  you  're  having  a  pretty  good 
time  here,"  she  said,  lingering. 

"  Yes."  Hermann  became  suddenly  thoughtful. 
"  The  balloon  man  does  n't  come  here,"  he  contin- 
ued. "  At  home  in  America  he  comes  very  often ; 
but,"  with  a  little  sigh  and  a  cheerful  look  at  Miss 
Lucilla,  "  there  are  so  many  happinesses  here  we 
don't  need  balloons." 

"  Ahem  !  No.  A —  good-by,  Hermann,"  said 
Miss  Blaine,  and  stalked  on,  pausing  soon,  how- 
ever, to  turn  and  look  back  at  the  child. 

After  this  she  began  to  watch  from  her  window 
for  the  blue  overalls,  the  small  cap,  and  the  para- 
sol, for  the  purpose,  of  course,  of  making  sure  that 
the  boy  with  the  luminous  dark-lashed  eyes  did 
not  dare  disregard  her  commands  and  pass  in  front 
of  her  house.  Children  were  so  lawless.  No  one 
except  their  own  infatuated  parents  could  be  ex- 
pected to  like  and  put  up  with  them. 

The  first  time  she  caught  sight  of  him  after 
their  last  interview  she  darted  to  the  side  of  the 
window  and  reconnoitred  through  the  blind. 

On    came  the   sturdy  little   figure   toward   the 

house,  and  when  he  drew  near,  without  glancing  up 

—  somehow  it  gave  the  watcher  a  queer  sensation 


204        THE   SUBJUGATION  OF  MISS  ELAINE 

that  he  did  not  look  up  and  try  to  see  her  —  he 
marched  around,  making  the  circuit  of  Castle 
Dangerous  and  taking  his  way  on  down  toward 
the  beach.  When  she  had  seen  the  last  of  him, 
Miss  Elaine,  feeling  singularly  dissatisfied,  hurried 
to  her  bookshelves  to  find  the  most  interesting 
volume  ,in  her  possession. 

The  pebbles  were  a  strong  magnet  to  her  little 
neighbor,  and  he  sought  them  almost  daily,  but  he 
never  trespassed  upon  Miss  Lucilla's  lawn.  One 
morning,  as  she  recognized  the  dilapidated  parasol 
coming  across  the  grass,  she  was  suddenly  seized 
with  the  recollection  that  she  ought  to  brush  the 
spider  webs  down  from  her  piazza  roof.  Forth- 
with she  caught  up  the  broom  and  hastened  out- 
doors in  time  to  intercept  Hermann  as  he  was 
sheering  off  from  dangerous  ground. 

"  Good-morning,"  she  said  shortly. 

He  looked  up.  The  lady  was  being  funny  again. 
The  child's  jolly  little  laugh  bubbled  over  irrepres- 
sibly  as  her  grimace  relieved  her  of  her  glasses. 

"How  do  you  do  that?"  he  asked,  standing 
still  and  regarding  her. 

Miss  Blaine  grew  warm  under  his  admiring 
gaze. 

"  How  do  I  do  what?  "  she  asked. 

"  Make  your  glasses  jump  off  so." 

"  Oh,"  said  Miss  Blaine,  feeling  rather  sheepish 
as  she  suddenly  understood  his  repeated  diversion. 
"  Are  you  still  having  a  good  time  on  the  island, 


THE  SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS  BLAIXE       205 

Hermann  ?  "  she  asked  with  some  embarrassment, 
dabbing  vigorously  at  the  spider  webs. 

"  Yes." 

" '  Yes,  ma'am,' "  corrected  Miss  Blaine  quickly. 
"  Does  n't  your  mother  tell  you  to  say  '  ma'am'  ?  " 

"  No.     Keo  does  not  either." 

"  Who  is  Keo  ?  " 

Hermann  looked  reflective.  The  faithful  nurse 
had  been  in  the  house  when  he  was  born.  He 
knew  she  was  as  much  a  part  of  the  family  as 
papa ;  but  she  was  no  relation  to  him. 

"  Little  boys  should  answer  when  they  are 
spoken  to,"  said  Miss  Blaine.  "  Who  is  Keo  ?  " 

The  child  looked  at  her  with  his  usual  honest 
simplicity.  "  I  don't  know  how  to  teach  people 
that,"  he  returned. 

"  Well,  if  I  ever !  "  was  his  hostess's  mental 
comment.  The  unconscious,  quaint  little  being  at- 
tracted the  lonely  woman  wonderfully.  Her  secret 
question  now  was  not  whether  it  would  be  wise  to 
detain  him  ;  it  was  by  what  means  she  could  do 
so.  Hermann  made  a  sudden  exclamation. 

"  Oh,  see  this,  Miss  Blame !  "  and  down  went 
the  cherished  parasol  as  he  stooped  to  the  grass 
and  touched  something  gently  with  the  tip  of  his 
chubby  finger.  "  What  is  it  ?  " 

The  lady  drew  near  and  looked  with  interest. 
The  treasure-trove  was  a  brown  and  yellow  furry 
caterpillar,  making  the  best  time  it  could  make  to 
get  away  from  the  investigating  finger. 


206        THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE 

"  That  is  a  caterpillar,  Hermann." 

"Will  it  bite?" 

"  No,  indeed.  You  can  take  it  up  if  you  wish 
to." 

The  child  promptly  took  gentle  hold  of  the 
creature  and  let  it  crawl  from  one  of  his  dimpled 
hands  to  the  other. 

"  When  you  are  a  big  boy,"  went  on  Miss  Blaine, 
at  last  on  familiar  ground,  "  you  will  study  about 
all  these  little  animals.  I  have  studied  a  great 
deal  about  such  things,  and  it  is  very  interesting." 

"  I  will  take  it  and  show  it  to  mamma,"  said 
Hermann,  his  face  beaming  with  pleasure. 

Miss  Blaine  would  have  scouted  the  idea  that 
she  could  be  envious  of  an  unknown  woman ;  but 
she  wondered  about  the  mother  of  the  sturdy  figure 
while  she  stood  still  to  watch  him  as  he  withdrew, 
the  parasol  hanging  precariously  over  his  shoulder 
as  he  kept  careful  eyes  on  his  prize. 

She  had  gone  into  the  house  when  her  ears  were 
assailed  by  a  series  of  shrieks,  corning  faintly  from 
a  distance. 

"  Some  young  one  fallen  on  the  rocks,  proba- 
bly," she  muttered.  "  I  hope  it  isn't  Hermann!  " 
The  eager  thought  followed  quick  at  the  heels  of 
the  indifferent  one,  and  she  even  hastened  unde- 
cidedly to  the  window;  but  with  an  impatient 
"  Pshaw !  "  moved  away  and  went  into  the  kitchen. 

In  a  few  minutes  she  heard  a  soft  knock  at  her 
back  door.  She  opened  it,  and  to  her  astonishment 


THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE        207 

there  stood  the  small  familiar  figure,  his  cap  rather 
more  awry  than  usual,  and  signs  of  tearf  id  woe  in 
his  solemn  face. 

"  I  have  lost  my  caterpillar,"  he  announced, 
making  a  manful  struggle  not  to  break  down. 

Miss  Elaine  felt  odd  sensations  about  her  heart. 
"  It 's  too  bad  !  How  did  you  lose  him  ?  " 

"  A  boy  took  him  away  from  me,  and  he  hurt 
him."  The  corners  of  the  little  mouth  twitched 
down.  "There  was  —  was"  -  the  child  hesitated 
with  horror  and  compassion,  "  there  was  blood  on 
the  boy's  hand.  Then  he  ran  and  threw  my  cater- 
pillar away."  The  corners  of  the  lips  twitched  so 
they  could  scarcely  speak. 

"  He  was  a  very  naughty  boy !  "  exclaimed  Miss 
Blaine  severely,  more  warm  than  she  had  been  in 
any  cause  for  many  a  year. 

Hermann,  still  quivering  under  the  shock,  began 
to  cast  about  in  his  infant  mind  for  the  consolation 
that  did  not  come  from  without.  "  Perhaps,"  he 
said  hesitatingly,  looking  appealingly  up  into  his 
hostess's  face,  "perhaps  it  was  not  blood.  Per- 
haps the  caterpillar  was  a  little  sick,  and"  —he 
lowered  his  voice  in  acknowledgment  of  the  indel- 
icacy of  the  suggestion  —  "and  he — spit  up  some- 
thing!" 

Miss  Blaine  cleared  her  throat  in  heroic  prepa- 
ration to  throw  veracity  to  the  winds  for  the  first 
time.  "  I  guess  that 's  what  it  was,"  she  replied  ; 
"  the  caterpillar  was  sick." 


208        THE   SUBJUGATION  OF  MISS  ELAINE 

The  clear,  dark  eyes  were  upon  her.  "  I  came 
to  see  if  you  would  help  me  find  another.  You 
have  studied  about  such  things,"  said  the  boy  in 
his  quaint  fashion. 

"Yes,  I  will,  Hermann.  You  just  wait  till  I 
get  my  hat  on ; "  and  Miss  Elaine's  hands  fairly 
trembled  with  eagerness  as  she  pinned  on  her  green 
veil. 

After  that  it  was  a  dark  day  to  the  maiden  lady 
when  she  had  no  interview  with  her  little  lad.  She 
began  to  develop  ingenuity  in  interesting  him,  — 
she  who  had  never  been  in  intimate  contact  with  a 
young  child  in  her  life. 

No  alarming  intrusion  from  neighbors  followed 
upon  her  indulgence,  and  it  came  to  be  that  she 
stepped  outdoors  to  meet  the  boy  occasionally,  or 
invited  him  in  to  look  at  her  pictures. 

"  You  have  not  a  picture  of  my  emperor.  He 
is  very  handsome  —  my  emperor,"  he  said  one  day ; 
and  although  Miss  Elaine's  glasses  leaped  off  at 
this  shock  to  her  republican  principles,  she  did  not 
attempt  to  lecture  the  child,  who  she  had  found 
could  speak  but  a  word  or  two  of  German,  and 
was  destined  to  grow  up  a  good  American. 

Even  when  he  talked  to  her,  as  he  often  did,  of 
what  he  used  to  do  in  America,  and  what  he  in- 
tended to  do  when  he  returned  thither,  she  did 
not  correct  him.  Probably  his  people  thought 
the  mistake  was  amusing  and  innocent.  Perhaps 
it  was.  At  all  events,  Miss  Blaiue  knew  that  a 


THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE        209 

subtle  sweetness  crept  into  life  when  those  serious 
rosy  lips  addressed  her,  and  all  her  severe  principles 
were  merged  in  the  one  desire  not  to  repel  him. 

"  You  little  missionary !  "  laughed  Mrs.  Billings, 
one  evening  when  Hermann  came  home  bringing 
a  ginger  cake  which  his  new  friend  had  given 
him.  "  Have  you  been  out  again,  converting  the 
heathen  ?  " 

"  What  is  heathen  ?  I  have  been  on  Stony  Beach 
with  Miss  Blame,"  returned  the  child.  "  She  has 
studied  about  pebbles." 

Miss  Blaine  actually  began  to  hum  about  her 
work  in  the  tiny  kitchen.  Nothing  occurred  dur- 
ing the  day  but  that  she  considered  whether  it 
could  be  turned  to  account  to  interest  Hermann. 

One  morning  she  met  him  with  a  mysterious 
nod. 

"  What  do  you  think  happened  here  last  night  ?  " 
she  asked. 

"What  did?"  returned  the  little  boy,  sitting 
down  cosily  beside  her  in  a  place  she  made  for  him 
on  the  piazza. 

"  It  began  yesterday.  I  was  sitting  by  the  win- 
dow, and  I  heard  a  rustling  noise  across  the  room 
in  my  waste-basket.  '  Dear  me,'  thinks  I  to  my- 
self, '  is  that  a  mouse  ? ' ' 

Her  listener's  eyes  were  upon  her,  full  of  inter- 
est, and  she  awkwardly  took  hold  of  his  hand, 
which  nestled  contentedly  in  hers. 

"  And  was  it  a  mouse  ?  " 


210        THE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE 

"  Yes ;  and  pretty  soon  what  do  you  think  that 
mouse  did?  He  came  up  and  sat  on  the  edge  of 
the  basket  and  looked  at  me  with  his  bright  eyes, 
just  as  cunning  as  could  be,  and  his  little  ears 
stood  up  like  two  fans.  I  said  to  him  :  '  You  silly 
mouse,  what  makes  you  do  that  ?  Don't  you  know 
if  I  see  you  I  shall  have  to  set  a  trap  and  catch 
you?'" 

Hermann's  eyes  grew  so  large  that  the  narrator 
was  elated.  "  So  last  night  I  set  a  trap  near  my 
desk,  and  this  morning  the  mouse  was  in  it." 

The  expression  which  grew  on  the  listener's  face 
gave  a  disconcerting  blow  to  Miss  Elaine's  self- 
esteem. 

"  Was  he  dead  ?  "  asked  the  child  solemnly. 

"I  —  I  think  —  yes,  he  was." 

She  felt  her  face  grow  warm.  Oh,  why  had  she 
made  the  hero  of  her  tale  so  engaging !  She  waited 
guiltily. 

At  last  Hermann  looked  up  hopefully.  He  had, 
as  usual,  found  consolation  for  his  tender  heart. 
"  Perhaps  it  was  not  the  same  mouse,"  he  said. 
"  Perhaps  it  was  the  same  color,  and  cut  out  the 
same  shape,  but  perhaps  it  was  a  different  one." 

And  his  companion,  her  integrity  completely  un- 
dermined, eagerly  grasped  at  this  solution  of  the 
jdifficulty,  and  assented. 

For  a  day  or  two  afterward  it  happened  that  the 
child  did  not  appear  in  the  neighborhood  of  Miss 
Elaine's  cottage.  How  long  those  days  were,  only 


THE   SUBJUGATION   OF   MISS   ELAINE       211 

that  lady  knew.  On  the  third  one  the  solitude  be- 
came unbearable.  She  put  on  her  shade  hat  and 
went  to  walk,  not,  as  usual,  seeking  the  wild  and 
uninhabited  portions  of  the  island,  but  turning  her 
steps  toward  the  other  cottages. 

As  she  crossed  the  unfamiliar  ground  she  cast 
sharp  glances  to  right  and  left,  but  not  once  was 
she  rewarded  by  a  glimpse  of  blue  overalls,  now 
very  baggy  at  the  knee,  and  with  a  general  appear- 
ance of  such  disrepute  as  to  match  the  parasol. 

She  kept  on  her  way  down  to  the  jagged  rocks 
in  whose  pools  at  low  tide  were  revealed  the  little 
creatures  of  the  sea  in  crystal  clearness.  A  fasci- 
nating, if  dangerous,  playground  for  a  child ;  and 
on  climbing  down  the  boulders  in  a  spirit  of  in- 
vestigation Miss  Elaine  caught  sight  of  her  little 
German.  He  was  standing  on  the  slippery  sea- 
weed, stooping  over  a  pool.  One  sleeve  was 
stripped  up  above  his  dimpled  elbow,  and  his  arm 
was  plunged  into  the  water. 

No  one  else  was  in  sight. 

"  What  an  idea !  To  think  of  letting  a  baby 
like  that  come  here  alone !  Why,  he  might  be 
killed  a  thousand  times,  and  break  his  leg  and 
sprain  his  ankle  into  the  bargain,"  thought  the 
indignant  woman,  too  excited  and  fearful  to  be 
careful  of  her  own  steps  as  she  leaped  and  slid 
toward  the  boy. 

"  Hermann  !  Be  careful !  "  she  exclaimed,  with 
such  sudden  vehemence  that  the  little  fellow 


212        TEE   SUBJUGATION   OF  MISS   ELAINE 

started,  slipped,  and  fell,  giving  his  head  a  hard 
bump  on  a  projecting  rock. 

He  was  stunned  during  a  long  enough  instant 
for  Miss  Blaine  to  catch  him  in  her  arms,  and, 
seated,  to  hug  him  to  her  breast,  before  his  lungs 
asserted  their  good  healthy  condition. 

His  cry  of  pain  brought  a  woman  speeding  over 
the  rocks.  "  Why,  Hermann  dear,  did  you  fall  ?  " 
she  called. 

"  Now,  you  just  keep  away,  whoever  you  are," 
exclaimed  the  excited  Miss  Lucilla.  "  If  you  don't 
know  any  better  than  to  leave  a  child  alone  in 
this  place  you  have  n't  got  sense  enough  to  be 
trusted  with  him.  Where  is  it,  my  lamb  ?  "  she 
asked  lovingly,  although  Hermann  was  making 
it  very  evident  where  it  was  by  rubbing  his  short 
dark  hair  with  a  very  wet  hand. 

As  for  the  snubbed  young  woman,  she  paused 
behind  Miss  Elaine's  shoulder,  caught  her  lip  be- 
tween her  teeth,  and  clasped  her  hands,  her  eyes 
shining  moistly,  as  starved  Miss  Lucilla  pressed 
kiss  after  kiss  upon  the  firm  rosy  cheek  on  her 
breast. 

It  was  Hermann's  habit  when  he  received  a 
sudden  hurt  to  cry ;  but  he  never  cried  long. 
There  were  too  many  interesting  things  to  be  at- 
tended to.  Now  he  ceased  his  wails,  and,  still 
rubbing  his  head,  addressed  his  comforter. 

"  Miss  Blame,  did  you  ever  (sob)  ever  study 
about  (sob)  starfish?" 


THE   SUBJUGATION   OF   MISS   BLAIXE        213 

"  Yes,  my  lamb,  and  the  next  time  you  come 
here  I  '11  come  with  you  myself.  You  must  never 
—  do  you  understand,  Hermann  ?  —  never  come 
alone  like  this." 

"  I  did  not  come  alone.  My  mamma  came  with 
me."  The  boy  struggled  into  a  sitting  posture  and 
looked  up  over  Miss  Lucilla's  shoulder.  "  There 
is  my  mamma." 

The  young  woman  came  silently  around  into 
sight,  and  when  Miss  Lucilla  met  her  gentle  ap- 
pealing eyes  she  gave  such  a  start  that  Hermann 
looked  at  her  questioniugly. 

Quick,  bitter  suspicion  filled  the  elder  woman's 
heart.  This  child  had  been  a  bait,  a  tool.  While 
she  was  still  held  dumb  by  a  painful  conflict  of 
feeling,  the  mother  spoke  to  her  boy.  "  I  thought 
those  little  sneakers  were  getting  too  old  and  slip- 
pery," she  said,  gently  taking  hold  of  his  foot  as 
she  seated  herself  near  him. 

"  Can't  you  afford  to  get  him  new  ones  ? " 
demanded  Miss  Blaine  suddenly.  "  Look  here, 
Marion,  I  wish  you  would  give  me  this  child. 
I  '11  do  well  by  him.  You  have  another." 

Marion  shook  her  head  gently.  "  We  are  very 
well  off,  thank  you,  Aunt  Lucilla.  My  husband 
has  a  good  position  in  the  Institute  in  Boston  and 
a  number  of  private  pupils.  You  can  see  that  he 
could  not  spare  his  boy." 

"  This  is  not  Aunt  Lucilla ;  this  is  Miss  Blame," 
said  Hermann  explanatorily. 


214        THE   SUBJUGATION   OF   MISS   ELAINE 

"  Who  is  Aunt  Lucilla,  then  ?  "  demanded  the 
spinster  of  the  child.  "  Now  I  '11  catch  her,"  she 
thought  fiercely.  "  This  baby  is  my  own  flesh  and 
blood.  I  '11  find  out  what  she  's  told  him  about 
me." 

"  She  is  my  Aunt  Lucilla,"  he  responded. 

"  What  kind  of  a  one,  —  a  cross  old  aunt,  is  n't 
she?" 

"  No,  she  is  not  cross.  My  mamma  loves  her. 
Sometime  papa  and  mamma  and  the  baby,  and 
me  too,  are  all  going  to  have  dinner  on  Thanks- 
giving Day  at  her  house." 

Miss  Elaine's  lip  quivered,  and  her  niece's 
cheeks  flushed.  Somehow  their  hands  met,  al- 
though they  did  not  look  at  one  another. 

"  Hermann  !  "  she  squeezed  him ;  "  I  don't  want 
to  be  '  Miss  Blame '  any  more.  I  am  your  Aunt 
Lucilla." 

«  Pretend  ?  " 

"  No,  really  your  aunt,  and  you  are  going  to  eat 
Thanksgiving  dinner  with  me  this  very  autumn. 
Will  you  kiss  me  and  say  '  Aunt  Lucilla '  ?  " 

The  boy  kissed  her  willingly,  and  obediently 
repeated  "  Aunt  Lucilla  ;  "  then  jumping  up  and 
pulling  her  toward  the  pool,  he  added :  "  Have 
you  studied  about  sea  urchins,  too  ?  " 


A  MISTAKE  IN   CONSONANTS 

"  I  SUSPECT  it  is  the  witching  hour  of  night 
when  ghosts  troop  forth,"  said  Frances  Kennard, 
as  she  and  her  sister  entered  the  house  after  part- 
ing from  the  friend  who,  in  their  aunt's  absence, 
had  been  their  chaperon  for  the  evening. 

"  I  could  believe  it  to  be  morning,"  responded 
the  other  wearily.  "  Why  cannot  people  who  give 
musicals  begin  their  programmes  at  a  reasonable 
hour?" 

"Why,  May,  it  was  a  beautifully  managed 
affair,"  said  the  younger,  as  she  turned  up  the  gas 
in  their  room,  disclosing  the  sparkling  depths  of 
her  own  happy  eyes. 

"  Two  points  of  view,"  remarked  May,  with  a 
little  laugh. 

"  How  different  our  temperaments  are ! "  said 
the  other,  still  smiling  at  her  pleasant  reminis- 
cences. 

"  Very,"  replied  the  elder  dryly.  "  What  sort 
of  an  effect  would  it  have  on  my  temperament,  I 
wonder,  to  be  the  rose  that  all  were  praising  for  — 
say  one  evening  ?  " 

"  Why,  May,  you  were  the  rose  that  all  were 
praising.  You  never  sang  better  than  to-night. 


216  A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

I  saw  half  a  dozen  people  wiping  their  eyes  when 
you  finished.  Even  Jack  Huntington  said  it  was 
a  marvel  that  such  a  cold  girl  as  you  always  seemed 
could  sing  with  such  fire  and  passion." 

"  Indeed !  That  sounds  like  the  sort  of  compli- 
ment my  friends  reserve  for  me."  Miss  Kennard's 
colorless  cheeks  flushed. 

"  He  went  on  to  say  that  he  had  always  under- 
stood that  it  required  a  deep  experience  either  of 
grief  or  love  to  give  a  singer  such  thrilling  power 
as  you  possessed." 

May  approached  her  dressing-table.  "  Jack  has 
a  marvelous  fund  of  general  information,"  she 
returned. 

"  Don't  make  fun  of  him,"  said  Frances,  regain- 
ing her  gayety  of  demeanor.  "  Old  friends  are 
best." 

"  So  I  observed  that  you  thought  this  evening, 
for  scarcely  any  one  but  Mr.  Huntington  had  an 
opportunity  to  come  near  you." 

"  He  amuses  me  more  than  the  rest,"  admitted 
Frances,  "  and  then  it  is  such  fun  to  see  the  others 
glower!"  She  stifled  a  merry  little  laugh,  in 
deference  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour. 

"  What  did  you  answer,  Fay,  to  Jack's  original 
proposition  ?  " 

"  What  about  ? "  asked  the  pretty  young  girl 
abstractedly. 

"  My  deep  grief  and  my  love." 

The  deliberation  and  unsteadiness  of  the  low 


A     MISTAKE    IN    CONSONANTS  217 

tone  were  impressed  on  the  inattentive  ear  suffi- 
ciently to  cause  Frances  to  bestow  a  light  kiss  upon 
her  sister's  cheek  in  passing. 

"  You  are  tired,  dear.  Hurry  into  bed.  I  for- 
get just  what  I  said,  but  it  was  something  to  the 
effect  that  you  were  the  exception  that  proved  the 
rule.  The  bare  idea  of  hidden  grief  or  a  grand 
passion  in  connection  with  May  Kennard !  "  The 
girl  laughed  and  squeezed  her  sister  affectionately. 
"  Jack  knows,  as  well  as  I  do,  just  what  a  steady- 
going,  level-headed,  even-tempered,  reliable  girl 
you  are.  Why,  it  would  turn  the  whole  world 
topsy-turvy  if  you  were  to  become  erratic,  so  I 
am  very  glad  that  you  do  not  require  any  such  in- 
spiration for  your  singing." 

The  older  sister  gazed  at  the  other  wistfully. 
"  You  remember  the  staid  farm  horse  of  the  fable, 
don't  you,  Fay,  who  became  jealous  of  the  graceful 
pet  dog  belonging  to  his  master?  In  the  same 
way  I  come  occasionally  to  a  climax  of  jealousy  of 
you,  my  dear.  Being  plain  and  serviceable  fails  at 
times  to  satisfy  me,  and  I  pine  to  be  a  belle," 

The  younger  girl's  eyes  widened  in  surprise,  and 
she  hesitated  in  doubt  how  to  reply  to  this  unprece- 
dented confession. 

May  laughed  rather  bitterly.  "  I  fancy  the 
master  of  the  dissatisfied  farm  horse  gazed  upon 
him  with  somewhat  of  your  present  expression. 
At  all  events  you  remember  that  when  the  animal 
attempted  to  gambol  about  in  imitation  of  the  little 


218  A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

dog,  he  received  blows  for  his  pains.  I  haven't 
forgotten  that  feature  of  the  experiment,  and  my 
worst  enemy  cannot  accuse  me  of  ever  attempting 
to  be  kittenish,  however  tempting  the  circum- 
stances." 

"I  —  I  did  n't  know  you  cared  for  frivolity," 
stammered  Frances,  rather  abashed  by  the  light 
burning  in  the  gray  eyes,  usually  so  gently  quiet. 

No  more  words  passed  between  them  until  the 
gas  was  out  and  they  were  in  bed ;  then  Frances 
turned  and  spoke  with  some  eagerness  to  con- 
sole :  — 

"  I  was  nothing  beside  you  to-night,  May.  I 
wonder  you  were  not  elated  at  having  made  such 
a  success.  You  were  such  an  assistance  to  the 
hostess  in  other  ways  beside  your  singing.  She 
said  you  had  been  invaluable  to  her.  People  are 
always  being  grateful  to  you,  you  are  so  capable." 

"  Yes,"  returned  the  other,  in  the  weary  tone 
which  her  sister  found  so  novel.  "  '  Be  virtuous 
and  you  will  be  happy,'  '  Pretty  is  that  pretty  does,' 
and  so  forth,  and  so  forth.  I  know  the  whole  list 
by  heart,  Fay.  All  the  same,  I  should  like  to  go 
to  a  party  sometime  and  not  be  of  any  use  to 
anybody,  but  sit  off  among  the  palms  with  Jack 
Huntington." 

"  With  —  Jack !  "  gasped  Frances.  "  Why,  you 
have  n't  seemed  to  approve  of  him  at  all  since  he 
returned  from  his  travels.  You  've  said  " 

"  Oh,  well,  somebody  with  a  fair  mustache  and 


A    MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS  219 

adoring  eyes,"  interrupted  the  other  recklessly. 
"  What  do  I  care  who  it  is  so  long  as  he  admires 
me  enough.  I  want  to  be  utterly  useless  and  pretty 
like"- 

"  Like  me,  perhaps,"  returned  Fay,  with  swift- 
offended  pride. 

"  Oh,  no,  dear,  no.  Never  mind  my  nonsense," 
and  May  patted  her  sister  apologetically. 

"  Poor  Jack  is  n't  a  bit  well,"  declared  the  latter, 
after  a  minute.  "  The  doctor  has  given  him  his 
choice  of  two  or  three  prescriptions,  and  he  has 
chosen  a  walking-tour." 

"  Indeed  ?     When  does  he  start  ?  " 

"  Very  soon.  He  bade  me  good-by  to-night,  and 
told  me  to  tell  you  that  you  would  not  have  a  chance 
to  reform  him  for  a  month." 

The  next  morning  no  reference  was  made  by 
either  of  the  sisters  to  the  elder's  brief  and  aston- 
ishing mutiny.  Frances,  seeing  May  go  about  the 
house  with  her  usual  reticent  serenity,  attending  to 
the  cares  which  devolved  upon  her  in  their  aunt's 
absence,  half  wondered  if  she  had  not  dreamed  the 
little  scene  of  the  night  before,  and  shortly  forgot 
all  about  it ;  for  Frances  Kennard's  life  was  too 
full  of  pleasant  realities  to  admit  much  time  for 
speculation.  She  was  a  beautiful  young  creature, 
in  the  zenith  of  her  popularity,  and  her  matter-of- 
fact,  sensible  sister  was  an  indispensable  aid  in 
the  various  undertakings  of  the  society  girl. 

Life  ran  on  for  them  in  the  usual  grooves  for 


220  A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

about  ten  days,  and  then  a  little  letter  written  on 
pink  paper  and  addressed  to  Miss  May  Kennard  in 
a  painstaking  hand,  fell  like  a  bombshell  among 
the  clouds  of  tulle  and  lace  which  Miss  Kennard's 
skillful  fingers  were  altering  to  suit  the  fastidious 
maiden  for  whom  it  had  just  arrived  from  the 
dressmaker.  Frances,  waiting  rather  impatiently 
while  May  hurriedly  ran  her  eyes  over  the  letter, 
was  astonished  to  see  her  sister  flush  violently,  and 
then  turn  very  pale  as  she  re-read  the  contents  of 
the  pink  note.  Her  astonishment  increased  when 
May,  after  a  thoughtful  moment,  during  which  she 
seemed  to  put  a  constraint  upon  herself,  dropped 
the  letter  and  turned  her  eyes,  dark  with  some 
emotion,  upon  her. 

"  Fay,  do  you  love  Jack  Huntington  ?  "  was  her 
startling  query. 

The  younger  sister  was  silent,  and  her  fingers 
toyed  nervously  with  the  ribbons  of  her  ball-gown. 
Of  a  certain  sort  of  confidence  little  subsisted  be- 
tween the  sisters.  Their  intimacy  confined  itself 
largely  to  the  externals  of  life.  This  being  the 
case,  Frances  was  the  more  amazed  by  May's  direct 
question. 

"  If  I  did,  would  you  expect  me  to  tell  you  here 
and  now  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Yes,  dear,  as  you  value  your  happiness,"  said 
the  other,  with  no  abatement  of  her  solemn  in- 
tensity. 

"  Do  explain  yourself,"  said  Frances,  half  im- 


A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS  221 

patiently.  "  I  should  n't  expect  you  to  be  theatri- 
cal. "What  is  in  that  letter  ? ' ' 

"  If  you  care  for  Jack  you  will  not  care  to  see 
it." 

"  Ah,  it  is  some  slander  of  him  then." 

"No.  Oh,  tell  me,  Fay.  Be  honest."  May 
turned  paler,  if  possible,  as  she  spoke  beseechingly. 
"  Does  your  happiness  depend  on  Jack  Hunting- 
ton?" 

The  belle  of  the  season  lifted  her  chin  proudly. 
"  Do  I  seem  like  a  person  whose  happiness  could 
depend  on  the  favor  of  a  man  who  has  never  said 
he  loved  me?" 

A  radiant  smile  began  to  tremble  on  the  other's 
lips. 

"  Those  words  would  be  a  lash  to  my  pride  if  I 
still  felt  pride  concerning  Jack,"  the  elder  sister 
said,  "  but,  Fay,"  a  glory  of  happiness  transfigured 
the  speaker's  face  until  it  looked  unfamiliar  to 
her  astonished  companion,  "  I  am  the  most  blessed 
woman  in  all  the  world,  for  I  love  him  with  all 
my  strength,  and  he  loves  me."  She  extended  the 
letter  with  a  gesture  and  gaze  Frances  never  for- 
got, and  the  young  girl  mutely  received  it. 

In  language  as  prim  and  precise  as  the  hand- 
writing, she  read  that  Mr.  Huntington  lay  ill  at  the 
writer's  house.  He  had  proceeded  on  his  walking- 
tour  as  far  as  the  village  of  Swanley,  where  he  had 
rescued  two  little  children  from  drowning  in  the 
river.  The  writer  supposed  that,  the  spring  weather 


222  A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

having  been  unusually  wet  and  bleak,  Mr.  Hun- 
tinglon  had  endured  much  exposure,  to  which  the 
struggle  in  the  swift  current  of  the  river  had  put 
the  finishing  touch.  At  all  events  he  was  attacked 
with  fever,  and  the  writer,  Miss  Azubiah  Reed, 
had  received  him  into  her  house  and  was  at  pre- 
sent nursing  him  to  the  best  of  her  ability.  The 
patient  alarmed  her  by  his  delirious  state.  She 
had  had  no  idea  where  to  send  to  his  friends ;  but 
the  young  man  called  frequently  upon  "May  — 
May  Kennard,"  with  protestations  of  affection 
which,  Miss  Reed  stated,  could  not  be  misunder- 
stood. She  had  that  morning  found  Miss  Ken- 
nard's  card  among  his  effects,  and  decided  at  once 
to  send  this  account  to  her  address,  hoping  that  it 
would  be  the  means  of  acquainting  Mr.  Hunting- 
ton's  friends  with  his  whereabouts  and  condition. 

"  That  blessed  card !  "  said  May,  as  her  sister 
looked  up  from  the  letter  with  a  dazed  countenance. 
"  Do  you  remember  my  giving  it  to  him  one  of  the 
last  evenings  he  was  here,  with  that  reference  to  a 
page  of  Ruskin  written  across  it?  But  for  that 
who  knows  how  long  I  might  have  remained  in 
ignorance ;  for  I  was  always  cold  to  him,  Fay,  as 
he  said.  I  feared  his  discovering  that  in  all  the 
world  there  existed  for  me  but  one  man.  I  feared 
your  discovering  it,  too,  dear,  for  until  now  I 
thought  you  cared  for  each  other." 

"  How  very  ill  he  is !  "  said  Frances  mechan- 
ically. 


A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS  223 

"  Yes,  but  I  will  uurse  him  back  to  health,"  and 
a  radiant  confidence  glowed  in  the  speaker's  face 
as  she  rose. 

"  You  are  not  going  down  there  yourself !  " 

"  What  else  can  I  do  ?  He  has  neither  mother 
nor  sister  to  go  to  him,  and  he  has  called  me." 

"  But  what  would  Aunt  Susan  say  ?  " 

May  seemed  not  to  hear  the  feeble  remon- 
strance. She  went  hurriedly  to  her  room,  followed 
by  Frances,  whose  thoughts  were  in  a  hubbub. 
Jack  Huntington,  she  had  been  sure,  was  devoted 
to  herself.  She  had  a  hundred  proofs  of  it  which 
her  sister  did  not  suspect.  In  the  first  rush  of 
bewilderment  and  surprise  it  seemed  to  her  that 
his  loss  was  a  heavy  blow.  Why,  then,  had  she 
not  been  frank  when  May  catechized  her  ?  That 
look  in  the  latter's  face  as  she  put  her  questions, 
now  that  it  was  explained,  gave  the  pleasure-seek- 
ing beauty  a  glimpse  of  noble  heights  of  unselfish- 
ness which  she  herself  had  never  dreamed  of.  Her 
own  pangs  of  mortification  were  for  the  moment 
swallowed  in  amaze  at  the  discovery  of  her  sister's 
transfiguring  affection  and  proposed  abnegation. 

"  Of  course  I  shall  go  with  you,"  she  said 
briefly. 

"  Thank  you,"  rejoined  May,  taking  her  sister's 
face  between  her  hands  and  giving  her  such  a  kiss 
as  Fay  had  never  received  from  her  before. 

"  No  wonder  she  can  sing ! "  thought  the 
younger,  still  marveling. 


224  A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

A  few  hours  later  Miss  Azubiah  Reed  was  plea- 
santly excited  by  the  arrival  of  a  telegram,  prom- 
ising the  prompt  appearance  of  the  young  lady 
whom  her  interesting  patient  had  been  calling  with 
such  impassioned  fervor.  Miss  Zuby,  as  she  was 
known  throughout  Swanley,  though  neither  young 
nor  comely,  had  a  secret  streak  of  romance  in  her 
nature  which  would  have  been  gratified  by  current 
events  were  it  not  for  the  trepidation  which  her 
patient's  ravings  caused  her.  When  the  Kennard 
girls  appeared  at  her  hospitable  door,  the  kind 
soul  welcomed  them  anxiously. 

"  I  did  hope  his  ma  'd  come,"  she  declared. 

"  He  has  no  mother,"  replied  May ;  "  we  are  as 
near  to  him  as  any  friends  he  has." 

Miss  Zuby  fixed  her  eyes  on  the  younger  girl 
admiringly.  She  was  a  fit  mate  for  handsome  Mr. 
Huntington. 

"  I  'm  thinkin'  the  sight  o'  your  face  '11  do  him 
good,"  she  said  bluntly. 

Frances  glanced  involuntarily  at  her  sister  and 
blushed,  but  did  not  reply. 

"  He  's  better,  anyway,  to-day.  He  's  slept  quite 
a  spell,  and  he  hain't  hollered  since  mornin'. 
What  shall  I  call  your  friend  ? "  pursued  the 
hostess,  still  gazing  approvingly  at  Frances'  long- 
lashed  eyes  and  finely-tinted  complexion. 

"  We  are  sisters,"  responded  the  girl ;  "  this  is 
Miss  May  Kennard  to  whom  you  wrote." 

"Oh,  jus'  so,  jus'  so,"   said  Miss  Zuby,  much 


A    MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS  225 

embarrassed  by  her  mistake.  "  Won't  you  lay  off 
your  things  ?  " 

For  a  long  time  afterward  she  scolded  herself 
for  her  stupidity,  and  before  many  hours  had 
elapsed  came  heartily  to  sanction  Mr.  Hunting- 
ton's  choice,  so  pleased  was  she  with  the  sensible, 
helpful,  capable  way  in  which  the  elder  Miss  Ken- 
nard  assumed  the  duties  of  nurse.  The  latter  put 
into  effect  a  dozen  devices  for  the  patient's  com- 
fort of  which  Miss  Zuby  had  never  thought,  and 
the  change  in  the  young  man's  condition  continued 
in  the  right  direction. 

One  day  he  opened  his  eyes  from  the  stupor 
which  had  followed  his  fever.  May  Kennard  was 
sitting  near  the  bed  with  some  needlework.  He 
recognized  her,  and  in  his  feeble  condition  the  sur- 
prise was  so  great  that  his  eyes  closed  again.  The 
girl,  who  had  not  perceived  his  look,  approached 
him  quietly,  and  making  some  change  in  the  cover- 
ing, knelt  beside  the  bed,  clasped  her  hands  to- 
gether, and  adored.  The  look  of  pure  love  and 
yearning  in  her  face  should  have  waked  the  sleep- 
ing ;  and  Mr.  Huntington,  not  being  asleep,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  making  up  his  mind  for  another 
essay  at  comprehending  his  surroundings,  lifted 
his  heavy  lids  and  met  the  beautiful  tenderness  of 
her  gaze. 

She  saw  the  light  of  recognition  in  his  eyes,  and 
a  low,  inarticulate  sound  broke  from  her  lips. 

"  Jack,  you  know  me,"  she  said  very  gently,  and 


226  A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

she  took  the  hand  that  lay  on  the  coverlid  in  her 
own  soft  one,  while  such  a  radiance  beamed  in  her 
face  that  it  was  the  greatest  of  the  sick  man's 
many  marvels. 

"  I  don't  understand,''  he  said  feebly. 

"But  you  will  soon.  Don't  try  now.  Just 
rest,"  she  replied,  with  the  intonation  a  mother 
might  use  to  her  baby,  and  a  soothing  serenity  of 
manner  which  made  the  young  man  give  up  all  his 
multiplying  conundrums,  and  fall  asleep  clinging 
to  her  hand. 

Happy  tears  gathered  in  the  watching  gray  eyes 
and  fell  unheeded  on  the  coverlid,  and  the  sponta- 
neous burst  of  thankfulness  which  ascended  to 
God  from  that  fast-beating  heart  must  have  been 
a  song  in  heaven ! 

That  afternoon  when  the  old  doctor  came  he 
found  his  patient  awake,  and  this  was  his  perora- 
tion as  he  was  leaving  the  room. 

"  Well,  sir,"  cheerily,  "  you  will  have  enough  to 
do  the  next  month  or  two,  to  express  your  thanks 
to  this  young  lady ;  not  an  unpleasant  duty,  I  sup- 
pose. Ha,  ha,  ha!  I  wish  we  could  keep  her 
here  in  Swanley.  She  is  the  sort  of  woman  there 
ought  to  be  at  least  one  of  in  every  town ;  but 
there  ain't,  young  man  !  There  ain't  enough  of  'em 
to  go  round,  and  I  suppose  you  '11  agree  with  me 
there.  Now,  you  've  nothing  to  do  but  grow  strong. 
Let 's  see  you  be  quick  about  it.  Good-night." 

The  doctor's  knowing  manner  was  also  a  conun- 


A    MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS  227 

drum,  and  May's  color  and  half-smiling  lips  gave 
a  girlish  prettiness  to  the  quiet  strength  of  the 
face  Jack  had  known  so  long.  He  thought  he 
had  never  seen  her  so  attractive,  and  he  lazily 
enjoyed  watching  her  as  she  made  the  preparations 
for  his  comfort  during  the  coming  night.  Once 
as  she  stood  near  his  bed  he  reached  out  his  hand 
and  taking  hers  carried  it  to  his  lips. 

"You  know  I  am  grateful  to  you,  May,"  he 
said  fervently ;  "  I  never  heard  of  such  kindness 
as  yours  in  coming  down  here,  and  caring  for  me. 
I  simply  have  no  words  in  which  to  talk  to  you 
about  it." 

She  beamed  down  upon  him  with  the  sweetest 
expression,  and  joy  in  the  touch  of  his  lips  sent  a 
glorious  color  over  her  face  and  throat. 

"  I  never  appreciated  May  Kennard,"  thought 
the  young  man,  as  his  lifted  eyes  beheld  the  beau- 
tified woman. 

The  next  morning  as  May  was  removing  his 
breakfast  tray,  she  said,  "  Fay  wants  to  see  you 
to-day." 

"  Is  Fay  here  ?  "  That  was  her  patient's  brief 
reply,  but  her  eyes  were  on  his  face.  Had  they 
not  been,  his  tone,  unawares  as  she  had  taken  him, 
would  have  been  enough. 

A  slow,  terrible  pain  crept  mercilessly  around 
her  heart,  seeming  to  threaten  her  very  life.  The 
dishes  on  the  tray  rattled  together  as  she  bore 
them  from  the  room. 


228  A  MISTAKE   IN  CONSONANTS 

Frances  was  in  the  kitchen  playing  with  a  cou- 
ple of  kittens  that  Miss  Zuby  had  just  brought  in 
from  the  wood-house. 

"  Come  to  our  room  a  minute,  Fay,"  said  May. 

Her  sister  looked  anxious  at  sight  of  her  and 
followed  without  a  word. 

"  Is  he  worse  ?  "  she  asked  at  last,  when  her  sis- 
ter had  closed  the  door  behind  them.  "  For  pity's 
sake,  May  !  Oh,  my  dear  girl,  you  are  worn  out !  " 

"  No,  no ;  sit  down  here,"  pushing  away  the 
camphor  bottle  ;  "  I  've  something  to  tell  you.  It 
is  you  Jack  loves." 

"May!"  gasped  Frances,  frightened  by  the 
pinched  white  face,  and  suffering  the  most  unself- 
ish pang  of  sorrow  she  had  ever  experienced ; 
even  while  —  so  subtly  constituted  is  the  human 
heart  —  somewhere  underneath  the  compassion  a 
gratification  sprang  to  life. 

A  nervous  smile  twitched  her  sister's  pale  lips. 
"  Miss  Zuby  did  not  hear  quite  right.  She  made 
a  little  mistake  in  consonants.  That  is  all.  My 
card  helped  on  the  delusion.  The  delusion !  O 
Fay !  "  the  dry  manner  changed,  and  the  girl 
bowed  her  head  in  her  hands  in  tearless  anguish. 
"  My  heart  is  breaking !  " 

To  do  the  popular,  pretty  Frances  Kennard  jus- 
tice, she  at  last  lost  sight  of  herself  entirely.  This 
episode  in  her  life  made  a  woman  of  her.  She 
represented  to  Miss  Zuby  that  her  sister's  strength 
had  given  out,  and  that  they  must  return  home  at 


A    MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS  229 

once.  She  wrote  a  cheery  little  note  to  the  sick 
man,  signed  by  both  sisters'  names,  in  which  she 
said  they  thought  best  not  to  excite  him  by  personal 
good-bys,  but  hoped  soon  to  see  him  in  town ;  and 
all  the  way  home  in  the  cars  she  edified  herself 
with  a  mental  review  of  the  years  of  her  sister's 
unostentatious,  helpful  life  and  her  own  careless 
exactions. 

As  for  Mr.  Jack  Huntington,  he  was  greatly 
disappointed  by  this  slip  'twixt  cup  and  lip.  The 
catechism  he  put  to  Miss  Zuby  failed  to  elicit  more 
than  he  already  knew  —  namely,  that  Miss  Ken- 
uard's  card  had  been  the  means  of  her  being  sent 
for  to  come  to  him.  Frances  had  had  the  fore- 
thought and  cleverness  to  persuade  Miss  Zuby  to 
say  nothing  to  the  patient  concerning  his  ravings. 

She  had  not,  however,  sealed  the  lips  of  the  vil- 
lage doctor.  When,  later,  Mr.  Huntington  and 
his  few  traps  were  en  route  to  the  depot,  the  old 
gentleman  met  him  and  bade  him  good  speed. 

"Going  to  follow  your  sweetheart,  eh?  You 
show  your  sense,  young  man.  She  's  a  girl  worth 
foltowing  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." 

This  well-meant  speech  served  to  rouse  again  all 
the  mysterious  doubts  and  suspicions  which  had 
become  allayed  with  returning  strength.  The 
memory  of  May  Kennard's  strange  looks  and 
behavior,  often  dwelt  upon  during  Jack's  monoto- 
nous days  of  convalescence,  came  back  to  him 
vividly.  He  remembered  how  the  doctor  had 


230  A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

spoken  before  her  on  the  last  evening  she  spent 
with  him,  and  that  she  had  shown  neither  surprise 
nor  resentment.  On  the  contrary,  that  last  elo- 
quent, down-pouring  gaze  of  tenderness,  as  he 
kissed  her  hand,  thrilled  him  in  retrospection.  He 
remembered  his  own  excitement  at  the  sudden 
information  of  Fay's  presence  in  the  house,  and 
that  that  was  the  end  of  what  now  seemed  a  fan- 
tastic, improbable  dream. 

"  There  is  no  telling  what  I  said  or  did  while  I 
was  off  my  base,  there,"  he  mused  as  the  train 
sped  on.  "  I  am  going  to  the  bottom  of  this 
thing." 

Mr.  Huntington's  card  was  handed  to  the  Ken- 
nard  girls  the  following  day.  They  looked  at  one 
another.  They  had  not  mentioned  his  name  since 
their  return  to  the  city. 

"  Now  we  begin  a  new  chapter,"  said  May  to 
her  sister.  "  I  want  to  say  to  you,  before  we  see 
Jack,  that  if  you  should  ever  come  to  care  for  him 
as  he  does  for  you,  I  do  not  want  you  to  hinder 
your  happiness  by  a  false  idea  of  loyalty  to  me." 

Frances  met  the  steady  gray  eyes  that  looked 
large  above  the  thin  cheeks.  "  I  've  been  too  busy 
all  my  life  wondering  if  people  were  in  love  with 
me  to  care  deeply  for  any  one,"  she  answered. 
"  I  might,  under  other  circumstances,  have  come 
to  be  loyal  to  Jack ;  but  as  it  is  I  can  be  loyal  to 
you,  May,  and  I  always  will  be,  dear,  as  long  as  I 
live." 


A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS  231 

Then  they  kissed  each  other,  and  went  down- 
stairs to  congratulate  Mr.  Huntington. 

The  three  had  not  been  together  long  before 
Frances  was  called  out  of  the  room.  She  bestowed 
a  hasty  glance  on  her  sister  before  reluctantly 
answering  the  summons. 

Scarcely  was  she  gone  when  Jack  changed  his 
seat  for  one  nearer  May. 

"  I  am  glad  to  see  you  alone  a  minute,"  he  said. 
"  As  you  may  imagine,  I  must  always  have  a  new 
feeling  toward  you  since  your  great  kindness  to 
me.  No  sister  could  have  done  more  for  me  than 
you  did." 

His  handsome,  pensive  eyes  were  gazing  straight 
into  hers,  but  she  did  not  shrink. 

"  You  look  worn  out  still,  poor,  dear  girl."  He 
tried  to  take  her  hand,  but  she  gently  withdrew 
it.  He  regarded  her  reproachfully,  and  continued : 
"  I  came  to-day  to  ask  you  to  marry  me,  May. 
Will  you?" 

Jack  had  a  pleasant  voice,  and  his  most  com- 
monplace words  had  power  to  thrill  her.  It  was 
a  wonder  that  the  girl  had  strength  enough  to 
preserve  an  appearance  of  serenity  now. 

"  Certainly  not,  Jack,"  she  said  kindly.  "  You 
do  not  owe  such  a  return  to  me  any  more  than 
you  would  to  the  sister  whose  place  I  took." 

Were  these  calm  eyes  the  ones  that  had  last 
looked  on  him  ?  Was  that  hand  whose  touch  was 
forbidden  him  now  the  one  which  had  yielded  itself 


232  A   MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

lovingly  to  his  feeble  grasp,  and  smoothed  his  brow 
with  a  tender,  lingering  touch?  The  implication 
in  her  words  made  him  blush  ;  and  the  hasty  re- 
turn of  Frances  was  as  much  a  relief  to  him  as  to 
May.  The  latter  was  not  a  girl  to  be  lightly  won. 
He  told  himself  that  he  might  have  known  that. 
An  intense,  mysterious  creature  was  reticent  May 
Kennard,  affording  glimpses  of  her  glowing  soul 
only  when  she  sang.  For  some  unfathomable  reason 
the  curtain  had  been  lifted  for  him  in  that  sick- 
room ;  but  now  it  was  dropped  and  impenetrable. 
Well,  it  was  over.  He  had  acted  upon  his  deter- 
mination, and  now  found  himself  free  to  pursue 
the  lovely  girl  who  was  absorbing  his  fancy  at 
the  time  his  illness  laid  him  low.  He  turned 
to  her  now,  and  until  he  left  the  house  addressed 
himself  principally  to  her.  Yet,  when  he  took 
his  leave,  it  was  with  a  sense  that  the  prettiest 
debutante  of  the  season  was  showing  her  winter's 
dissipation  in  a  certain  loss  of  freshness  in  body 
and  mind. 

"  She  has  n't  May's  brains.  She  never  had," 
he  mused,  and  then  he  thought  of  May  with  a 
sensation  of  pique  and  vague  discomfort. 

Later  in  the  season  he  took  an  extended  cruise 
with  some  friends  in  a  yacht,  and  daily  he  lived 
over  those  strange  experiences  in  the  country  vil- 
lage. Again  he  thrilled  at  the  pressure  of  a 
magnetic  hand,  and  more  and  more  there  grew 
in  him  a  longing  for  a  repetition  of  those  dream- 


A    MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS  233 

like  occurrences  which  had  become  sacred  in 
memory. 

One  day,  as  the  yacht  was  cutting  through  the 
sparkling  blue  waters  of  Casco  Bay,  he  suggested 
to  his  companions  that  they  stop  at  the  island 
where  Miss  Kennard's  aunt  had  her  cottage.  As 
there  were  on  board  several  of  Frances'  admirers, 
this  suggestion  was  cordially  adopted. 

The  yachtsmen  received  a  hearty  welcome  from 
the  Kennards,  and  Mr.  Huntingdon  watched  for 
his  opportunity  to  be  alone  with  May.  It  came 
at  last.  The  whole  party  had  been  inspecting  the 
yacht  as  it  rode  lightly  at  anchor  in  a  picturesque 
cove  of  the  island. 

"  I  've  done  a  lot  of  thinking  on  that  boat, 
May,"  said  Jack,  as  they  climbed  the  hill  to- 
gether. 

"  It  seems  to  have  agreed  with  you.  I  think 
you  may  venture  to  keep  on,"  she  answered  ban- 
teringly. 

"  You  must  decide  that,  for  you  have  been  the 
subject  of  my  cogitations." 

"  Don't  return  to  that,  Jack,"  said  the  girl, 
with  a  serious,  hurt  look.  "  Once  was  all  very 
well.  I  appreciate  your  intentions  —  but  under 
the  circumstances — I  should  think  —  I  should 
think  "- 

Huntington  was  watching  her  eagerly.  He  liked 
better  this  embarrassment  and  changing  color  than 
the  baffling  serenity  of  last  time.  "  What  are 


234  A    MISTAKE   IN   CONSONANTS 

the  circumstances  ?  I  '11  be  hanged  if  I  know," 
he  burst  forth,  as  she  paused.  "  Won't  you  ex- 
plain?" 

"  No.  Why  puzzle  yourself  ?  You  were  fever- 
ish. It  is  all  past  now.'* 

"  But  I  can't  forget.  I  dreamed  you  loved  me. 
Oh  May  !  "  —  they  were  in  a  copse  of  little  trees 
which  must  have  grown  for  their  especial  benefit, 
so  thick  a  screen  did  they  form  —  "  why  was  it 
worth  your  while  to  bewitch  me  if  you  meant  to 
throw  me  over  after  all  ?  " 

There  was  no  mistaking  his  earnestness.  May 
lifted  her  eyes  and  looked  guardedly  into  his  face. 
She  saw  there  nothing  but  honest  perplexity  and 
love.  Jack  was  a  sufficiently  commonplace  man, 
but  the  simple  fact  was  that  if  he  did  really  and 
spontaneously  love  her,  it  made  a  paradise  of  the 
world,  a  joy  of  life. 

"  I  believed  you  cared  for  Fay,"  she  said,  her 
hard- won  caution  not  yet  broken  down. 

"  I  admire  Fay,"  was  the  prompt  answer,  "  but 
I  love  you." 

This  simplicity  won.  Down  went  the  tottering 
wall  of  caution,  swept  away  in  a  flood  of  happi- 
ness. The  soft  eyes  filled  again  with  the  raptur- 
ous light  he  remembered  and  recognized  with  an 
eager  thrill. 

"  It  was  not  a  dream  !  "  he  exclaimed. 

A  few  months  later,  when  Miss  Zuby  put  on 
her  spectacles  to  read  the  engraved  invitation  to 


A   MISTAKE  IN   CONSONANTS  235 

the  wedding,  there  was  some  complacency  in  her 
down-curving  smile  of  satisfaction. 

"  That  there  pretty  little  Fay  critter  tried  to 
throw  me  off  the  track  when  they  was  goin' 
away,"  she  soliloquized,  "  but,  law,  I  guess  I  can 
trust  my  own  ears,  can't  I  ?  " 


A  NEUTRAL  THANKSGIVING 

"  Miss  ESTHER  ought  to  be  home  by  this  time," 
said  Deborah  anxiously,  going  to  the  window  again 
to  peer  up  the  street  as  the  sound  of  a  trolley  car 
diminished  in  the  distance.  "  What  has  become  of 
the  child  ?  It  '11  be  dark  before  the  next  car  comes 
along." 

The  child  she  was  watching  for  was  forty  years 
of  age,  but  that  mattered  nothing  to  the  faithful 
woman  who  for  twenty-five  years  had  kept  house 
for  the  Wainwrights,  and  taken  care  of  Esther's 
physical  comforts.  To  Deborah  she  was  still  the 
same  girl  who  had  been  the  youngest,  brightest 
creature  in  the  house  when  she  came  into  it  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  and  who  now  was  the 
only  one  left. 

Esther's  sister  Lucy  had  married,  and  lived  in 
the  city  adjacent  to  the  suburb  where  the  Wain- 
wright  homestead  was  located.  Recently  Lucy  had 
died  after  years  of  invalidism,  leaving  a  daugh- 
ter nineteen  years  of  age,  and  it  was  at  a  summons 
from  the  dead  woman's  lawyer  that  Miss  Wain- 
wright  had  gone  into  the  city  to-day. 

"  Poor  dear  !  I  '11  be  glad  when  it 's  all  over," 
soliloquized  Deborah.  "Miss  Esther  hain't  had, 


A  NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  237 

so  to  say,  a  scrap  o'  comfort  since  Mrs.  Dyett  went 
—  stayin'  there  at  the  house  with  Kitty,  and  seein' 
after  things,  puttin'  away  and  givin'  away.  It's 
the  saddest  work  a  body  can  do.  I  s'pose  she  '11 
bring  the  child  right  home  here,  and  after  a  while 
things  will  be  real  pleasant.  It  '11  be  grand  for 
Miss  Esther  to  have  a  young  companion  in  the 
house  instead  of  nobody  but  an  old  woman  like  me 
to  talk  to  from  mornin'  till  night." 

The  good  creature  was  conscious  of  a  twinge  of 
jealousy,  —  one  that  had  been  oft  repeated  in  the 
last  few  days  as  she  meditated  over  the  changes 
that  were  sure  to  come. 

While  she  still  cogitated  she  caught  sight  of  a 
straight,  slender  figure  walking  with  firm,  quick 
tread  up  the  street. 

"  There  she  is  now,  and  Kitty  ain't  with  her  — 
yet !  "  she  muttered  with  relief. 

"  But  you  do  look  tired,  child !  "  she  added,  as 
Miss  Wainwright  came  in ;  and  with  motherly  fin- 
gers the  housekeeper  began  unbuttoning  the  jacket 
of  her  mistress's  snug  tailor  suit,  her  old  heart  has- 
tening apprehensively  as  she  saw  signs  of  unusual 
agitation  in  the  beloved  face,  now  pale  and  with  set 
lips. 

"  Indeed  I  am  tired,  Deborah,"  replied  the  new- 
comer dejectedly.  "  I  have  but  one  ambition  — 
tea!" 

"  Dear  heart,  if  tea  is  all !  " 

The  old  woman  waited  on  Miss  Wainwright  with 


238  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

devoted  attention  as  she  sat  at  the  well-spread  table, 
speaking  from  time  to  time  to  coax  her  mistress  to 
try  some  dish,  or  to  have  more  of  some  dainty,  but 
Esther  shook  her  head. 

"More  tea  only,  Deb,  more  tea.  I've  been 
driven  to  drink."  She  shook  her  head,  and  poured 
again  from  the  dainty  teapot  with  a  hand  that  was 
unsteady. 

"  It 's  those  lawyers,  drat  'em !  "  returned  Debo- 
rah indignantly. 

"  Not  altogether.  I  suppose  Lucy  is  to  blame 
more  than  the  lawyer." 

The  housekeeper  stared  and  grasped  her  clean 
apron  with  both  hands,  astonished  at  a  reference 
in  this  tone  to  the  departed.  "  Why,  what  has 
Mrs.  Dyett  done?"  she  asked. 

"  She  has  put  a  request  in  her  will  that  —  well, 
it  has  surprised  me." 

"  I  see  it  has,  poor  dear.  Do  try  some  o'  the 
salad." 

"  I  have  looked  forward  to  taking  Kitty  as  my 
own  daughter  "  —  Miss  Wainwright  examined  her 
delicate  cup  as  she  spoke  —  "  to  planning  her  life 
and  making  her  happy." 

"  Just  so  ;  I  s'posed  you  had." 

"  Well,  it  seems  I  shall  be  obliged  to  share  her 
with  another  guardian." 

"  Why,  who  is  it  ?  "  The  housekeeper  fell  with 
righteous  indignation  into  her  mistress's  mood. 
"  Kitty  has  n't  got  anybody  else  but  you  —  you, 


A  NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  239 

her  own  aunt,  and  she  the  very  livin'  picture  o'  you. 
Mrs.  Dyett  always  admitted  it." 

"  The  picture  of  what  I  was,  perhaps.  I  can  see 
it  myself  ;  but  I  'm  forty,  Deb,"  —  the  declaration 
was  made  wearily,  —  "  and  to-night  I  feel  ninety." 

"  You  're  just  as  pretty  as  you  ever  were,"  re- 
turned Deborah  stoutly.  "  There  's  nobody  should 
know  better  than  I  do  how  you  look.  You  're  quiet 
in  your  ways.  You  spat  back  your  hair  flatter  'n 
you  used  to,  and  wear  your  hats  too  plain ;  but  if 
you'd  give  yourself  a  chance  like  the  other  girls, 
and  let  your  curls  out,  you  'd  hold  your  own  with 
anybody." 

Miss  Wainwright's  smile  had  a  trace  of  bitter- 
ness. 

"  Yes,  Miss  Esther,  I  tell  you  if  you  'd  fix  up 
and  wear  kind  o'  ruffly  things  and  feathers,  Kitty  'd 
only  be  the  bud  and  you  'd  be  the  rose.  Don't 
talk  to  me  about  feelin'  ninety  ;  I  ain't  but  sixty 
myself.  Now  do  tell  me,  Miss  Esther,"  her  tone 
changing  from  aggression  to  sympathy,  "  what  you 
mean.  Come,  sit  in  the  big  chair  by  the  fire  and 
heat  your  feet.  You  're  just  beat  out." 

Miss  Wainwright,  her  head  leaning  obediently 
against  the  cushioned  chair,  and  her  eyes  on  the 
blaze,  gave  a  long  sigh. 

"  Yes,  I  'm  disappointed  to  the  core,  Deb." 

"  But  Mrs.  Dyett  did  n't  have  any  friends  close 
enough  to  give  Kitty  to  'em.  You  're  all  the  aunt 
she 's  got  in  the  world." 


240  A  NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

"  You  forget  she  has  an  uncle." 

"  You  don't  mean  to  say  "  —  incredulously  — 
"  she  's  left  that  little  girl  to  a  gay,  worldly  bach- 
elor? Lucy  wa'n't  crazy,  was  she?  " 

"  Kitty  is  n't  a  little  girl  except  to  us."  Miss 
Wainwright  spoke  in  an  even,  monotonous  voice. 
"She  is  nineteen  years  old." 

"  But  in  the  name  o'  common  sense  ain't  you  her 
natural  protector  and  guide  —  and  she  the  image 
of  you  ?  " 

"  I  am  to  have  her  half  the  time  and  he  half." 

"  Land  o'  liberty !  What  did  Mrs.  Dyett  do 
that  for  ?  " 

"  Probably  out  of  loyalty  to  her  dead  husband 
and  his  family." 

"  It 's  a  fool  arrangement,"  announced  the  house- 
keeper. "  Why,  he  won't  know  what  to  do  with  the 
girl.  Perhaps,"  hopefully,  "  perhaps  he  '11  refuse 
to  act." 

"  If  only  she  were  n't  so  pretty,"  said  Miss  Wain- 
Wright  regretfully.  She  would  willingly  have  dis- 
pensed with  her  niece's  dimples,  have  seen  the 
curling  tendrils  of  her  hair  straighten,  —  aye,  even 
have  been  willing  those  merry  eyes  should  squint, 
if  such  plainness  and  obliquity  would  have  alien- 
ated Judson  Dyett's  critical  admiration,  and  made 
hun  willing  to  give  her  full  possession  of  their  joint 
ward. 

What  had  beauty  ever  done  for  herself?  It 
had  not  prevented  her  from  losing  the  lover  of  her 


A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  241 

youth,  even  before  the  world  knew  that  they  had 
plighted  their  troth.  The  bliss,  the  misery  of 
that  time  swept  over  her  in  a  strong  wave  now, 
and  she  caught  her  breath  in  sudden  agitation. 

Deborah  was  smoothing  the  riugless  hand  that 
lay  on  the  arm  of  the  chair. 

"  I  used  to  like  Mr.  Dyett,"  she  said  thought- 
fully, "  in  those  old  days  when  he  came  with  the 
other  fellers  sparkin'  you,  Miss  Esther.  I  've 
thought  sometimes  if  you  'd  ever  given  him  any 
encouragement  he  might  have  been  a  different 
man." 

"Different  in  what  way?"  Esther's  usual 
energy  seemed  to  have  vanished  altogether. 

"  Oh,  more  of  a  man,  and  not  so  —  oh,  you 
know  what  I  mean ;  he 's  only  a  grown-up  boy 
now,  playin'  with  boats  and  horses  and  such  doin's. 
I  don't  want  to  hurt  your  feelin's,  Miss  Esther, 
but  do  you  s'pose,"  she  hesitated,  looking  at  Miss 
Wainwright  lovingly,  "  do  you  s'pose  perhaps  Mrs. 
Dyett  was  thinkin'  about  money?  They  do  say 
Mr.  Judson  's  made  a  lot  speculatin'." 

"  No,  I  'm  sure  there  was  nothing  mercenary  in 
her  mind." 

Miss  Wainwright  said  no  more,  and  the  house- 
keeper, seeing  her  thoughtful  mood,  gazed  at  her 
wistfully ;  then,  sighing,  left  her  and  went  to  clear 
off  the  table. 

Esther  sat  still,  staring  at  the  fire  and  trying 
to  reduce  her  thoughts  to  order.  The  grief  and 


242  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

resentment  toward  her  sister  which  the  discovery 
of  the  latter' s  wish  had  caused  were  subsiding. 
Her  cooler  judgment  told  her  that  Lucy,  merely 
knowing  that  she  disliked  Judson  Dyett,  had  con- 
cluded that  they  two  would  be  more  likely  to  reach 
an  amicable  agreement  if  such  a  request  came  to 
their  knowledge  after  she  was  gone. 

Nearly  a  year  had  elapsed  since  Esther  had  seen 
this  man.  When  they  did  meet  it  was  only  in  formal 
fashion.  Although  he  lived  but  a  few  miles  away, 
their  interests,  their  friends,  their  paths,  were  widely 
diverse.  He  had  been  expected  to  be  at  the 
lawyer's  office  to-day,  but  some  business  having 
detained  him  it  had  been  left  to  Miss  Wainwright 
to  consult  with  him  as  to  their  new  duties  at  her 
own  convenience. 

Where  and  when  should  she  talk  with  him? 
Evidently  at  the  Dyett  house.  In  a  few  days  that 
would  pass  into  the  hands  of  new  owners ;  then 
the  interview  must  take  place  soon,  while  that 
rendezvous  remained  to  them.  Not  for  any  con- 
sideration or  reason  would  she  ask  him  to  come  to 
her  own  home.  Why,  had  it  not  been  in  this  very 
room  that  — 

Esther  Wainwright  looked  about  her  furtively, 
with  frightened  eyes.  Memory  had  her  in  its 
power  to-night. 

The  next  day  her  weakness  had  passed.  Deb- 
orah's brow  cleared  as  she  saw  by  her  mistress's 
self-possessed  manner  and  the  expression  of  her 


A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  243 

face  that  her  usual  ability  and  common  sense  had 
reasserted  themselves. 

"  I  expect  to  bring  Kitty  home  with  me  to- 
night," said  Miss  "Wainwright  to  the  housekeeper, 
and  the  latter  lingered  in  the  doorway  to  look  after 
her  mistress,  while  Esther  took  her  quick  way  down 
the  street. 

"  Would  n't  bend  a  grass-blade  if  she  stepped  on 
it,"  was  Deborah's  comment,  "  but  I  never  knew 
before  how  she  despised  Mr.  Dyett.  Thought  one 
spell  she  favored  him  more  'n  any  of  'em.  But 
none  of  'em  got  her,  not  one."  Deborah  finished 
triumphantly ;  the  mere  fact  of  Esther's  monoto- 
nous life  failed  utterly  to  convince  her  that  all  the 
eligibles  in  the  city  would  not  flock  to  the  Wain- 
wright  door  provided  Esther's  bright  eyes  ever 
gleamed  encouragingly. 

Those  eyes  gleamed  now,  and  the  curved  lips 
were  firmly  set  when  Miss  Wainwright  reached 
the  Dyett  house  and  ran  up  the  steps. 

"  Is  Mr.  Dyett  here,  Maggie  ?  "  she  asked  of  the 
maid  who  answered  her  ring. 

"Yes,  ma'am.  He's  waiting  for  you  in  the 
parlor." 

Esther  moved  unhesitatingly  to  the  little  draw- 
ing-room, whence  the  ornaments  had  been  removed. 
As  she  passed  between  the  portieres  she  saw  at  once 
the  object  of  her  search. 

He  was  standing,  his  feet  apart  and  his  back  to 
her,  examining  a  painting  on  the  wall.  One  of 


244  A  NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

the  hands  crossed  behind  him  held  the  gloves  he 
had  just  taken  off,  and  his  silk  hat  lay  on  a  bare 
table  near  by.  He  was  well  dressed,  and,  as  he 
turned,  his  clear-skinned  face  had  a  care-free  look 
rather  unusual  in  a  man  of  forty-five. 

"Ah,  how  do  you  do,  Esther?"  he  said  cheer- 
fully. He  stepped  forward,  and  their  hands  met 
perfunctorily.  "  You  're  not  selling  that  Corot 
with  the  house,  I  hope,"  and  he  turned  back  for 
another  appreciative  look.  "  That  was  always  a 
pet  of  mine." 

The  color  flew  to  her  cheeks ;  yet  what  other 
greeting  did  she  expect  from  Judson  Dyett  ?  She 
wished  to  propitiate  him  while  there  was  a  shadow 
of  hope  that  he  might  yield  to  the  request  she  had 
determined  to  make. 

"  No  doubt  Kitty  will  be  glad  to  have  you  store 
it  for  her  until  she  has  a  home  of  her  own,"  she 
replied. 

"  A  home  of  her  own  ! "  He  gave  a  short  laugh. 
"Won't  you  sit?" 

She  accepted  the  chair  he  placed,  and  he  took 
one  near ;  and  his  eyes  ran  quickly  over  her  neat 
figure. 

"  How  old  is  the  little  rascal  ?  " 

"  Kitty  is  nineteen,"  said  Miss  Wainwright  lacon- 
ically. 

"  Ha !  We  thought  ourselves  grown  up  at 
nineteen,  did  n't  we  ?  "  His  look  interrogated  her 
pleasantly. 


A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  245 

How  did  he  dare !  Esther  felt  tremulous  as 
she  leaned  back  and  loosened  her  feather  boa. 

"  I  know  now,  at  any  rate,  that  a  girl  of  nine- 
teen is  a  child,"  she  replied.  "  What  is  your 
response  to  the  word  I  sent  you  this  morning?" 

"  I  was  always  glad  to  do  anything  I  could  for 
Lucy.  I  am  glad  to  still.  Kitty  and  I  are  great 
chums." 

"  But  the  care  of  a  girl  at  that  age  would  be 
really  inconvenient  for  a  man  situated  as  you  are." 

Mr.  Dyett  raised  his  eyebrows  at  her  tone. 

"  You  disapprove  of  the  arrangement  ?  " 

"  It  seems  to  me  wholly  unnecessary." 

"  Then  you  did  not  cooperate  with  Lucy  in  the 
plan." 

Esther's  eyes  flashed  at  him.     "  I  did  not !  " 

He  smiled  at  her  thoughtfully,  striking  one  palm 
softly  with  his  gloves.  "  I  believe  you,"  he  said 
at  last. 

She  felt  with  anger  that  she  was  coloring  to  the 
roots  of  her  hair.  "  It  is  excessively  disagreeable 
to  me  to  act  with  —  with  any  one  in  this  matter," 
she  said  hurriedly.  "  I  was  prepared  to  do  every- 
thing for  Kitty  myself,  and  —  and  Lucy  of  course 
only  appointed  you  out  of  a  sense  of  duty  to  her 
husband"  —  ghe  paused. 

"Very  kind,  and  very  proper,"  returned  her 
companion,  with  the  same  irritating  composure. 
"  I  'm  fond  of  Kitty.  I  have  no  child  of  my  own. 
It  was  very  thoughtful  of  Lucy  to  rescue  her  for 


246  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

half  the  year  from  a  home  where  I  should  never 
have  been  asked  to  peep  at  her." 

"  Judson,  you  know  —  you  know  I  would  never 
have  been  so  unjust." 

"  Why  should  I  ? "  was  the  quiet  response. 
"  We  can  only  judge  of  the  future  by  the  past." 

Miss  Wainwright  rose  to  her  feet.  "  There  is  no 
need  to  prolong  this  interview,"  she  said  quickly. 
"  I  had  a  slight  hope  when  I  came  in  that  you 
would  be  willing  to  decline  to  act  as  Kitty's  guar- 
dian." She  paused  and  looked  at  him.  "  If  you 
will  do  so,  I  promise  to  send  her  to  visit  you  four 
times  a  year." 

Dyett  rose  also,  his  eyes  still  resting  on  the 
slender  black-clothed  form  before  him. 

"  I  believe  you  have  n't  a  gray  hair,  Esther,"  he 
remarked  musingly,  meeting  her  fleeting  glance. 

She  bit  her  lip  at  the  irrelevance.  "  This  is  a 
serious  matter  to  me,"  she  said.  "  Was  there  ever 
anything  in  life  serious  to  you?  " 

"  Did  n't  I  say  you  were  unjust  ? "  he  asked 
quietly. 

She  looked  full  in  his  eyes.  "  Then  you  insist 
on  your  rights  in  this  matter." 

"  I  see  my  chance  to  share  something  with  you 
at  last.  You  would  have  ine  refuse  merely  to 
please  you." 

"Yes,  I  would."  She  smiled  at  him  bitterly. 
"  A  small  reason,  surely.  Not  worth  mentioning 
for  a  moment." 


A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  247 

He  nodded.  "  The  same  tongue,  the  very  same. 
Oh,  what  a  fool  I  was  to  have  minded  it  in  the 
long  ago.  If  I  had  been  a  little  older  and  wiser 
at  the  time,  I  could  have  gotten  over  that  trouble 
of  ours,  Esther."  He  returned  her  smile  as  it 
faded.  "  By  this  time  you  would  have  been  done 
with  sharpness,"  he  added. 

For  a  moment  she  stood  dumb  at  his  audacity. 
"  Perhaps  you  will  agree  to  leave  this  question  to 
Kitty  ?  "  she  went  on  when  she  could  speak,  stand- 
ing very  straight  and  ignoring  his  speech. 

"  Why,  yes,"  he  answered  slowly.  "  I  think 
that  would  be  safe."  She  took  a  quick  step  to- 
ward the  door.  He  placed  a  detaining  hand  on 
her  arm,  and  she  shrank  back  from  it.  "  One 
moment,  please.  It 's  as  well  not  to  prejudice  the 
child,  eh  ?  Let  her  think  that  we  are  —  er  — 
that  we  are  " 

"Friendly,  of  course,  yes.  You  agree  that  if 
she  chooses  to  live  wholly  with  me  you  will  not 
object  ?  " 

"  Ye-es,  provided,  of  course,  I  have  the  run 
of  the  house.  I  must  keep  an  eye  on  my  brother's 
child.  On  the  other  hand,  if  she  elects  to  live 
with  me  you  will  at  all  times  be  welcome  under 
our  roof." 

Miss  Wainwright  regarded  him,  mute,  and  he 
raised  himself  gently  on  his  toes,  his  hands  crossed 
behind  him,  as  he  returned  her  gaze  with  a  faint 
smile. 


248  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

"  I  see  that  nothing  will  induce  you  to  treat  the 
situation  otherwise  than  facetiously,"  she  said 
coldly. 

"  Certainly,  I  will  be  as  serious  as  you  like. 
Name  your  own  terms  if  you  object  to  mine.  I 
will  see  if  I  can  agree  to  them." 

"  If  you  have  a  spark  of  kindness  —  if  you  are 
not  positively  malicious,  you  will  agree  to  them." 

"  In  that  case  I  surely  shall." 

"  Then  this  is  the  way  it  shall  be.  Provided 
Kitty  elects  to  live  with  me,  I  send  her  to  visit 
you  at  stated  times  and  seasons ;  if  she  elects  to 
live  with  you,  you  shall  send  her  to  visit  me  at 
intervals  ;  but  if  she  prefers  to  abide  by  her  mo- 
ther's request  and  share  our  care  equally,  you  shall 
see  nothing  of  her  during  my  half  of  the  year,  and 
I  will  see  nothing  of  her  during  your  half  of  the 
year.  Do  you  agree  ?  " 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "  I  suppose  so, 
knowing  nothing  of  unkindness  and  malice." 

Miss  Wainwright  again  caught  her  lip  in  her 
teeth  and  regarded  her  companion  with  less  ten- 
sion. "  Thank  you,"  she  said,  "  and  one  thing 
more,  Judson.  I  wish  you  would  agree  to  one 
thing  more."  She  dropped  her  eyes,  and  so  did 
not  perceive  the  kindness  of  her  companion's  gaze. 
"  Let  me  take  the  child  home  with  me  for  a  fort- 
night before  we  talk  about  it  to  her.  Let  her  rest 
and  recover  a  little  from  her  loss.  I,  of  course, 
will  during  the  time  say  nothing  of  this." 


A  NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  249 

"  Very  well,  then  ;  as  I  understand  it,  in  two 
weeks'  time  you  would  like  me  to  come  to  your 
house." 

"  No,  no,"  responded  Miss  Wainwright  quickly. 
"  We  will  appoint  a  place.  We  will  come  in  town 
and  meet  you.  I  would  not  trouble  you  to  come 
so  far." 

The  man's  smile  deepened,  and  a  humorous  light 
came  into  his  eyes.  "  But  it  would  be  no  trouble, 
I  assure  you.  It  would  be  at  once  a  duty  and  a 
delight." 

The  expression  of  Esther's  face  was  as  hard 
and  repellent  as  its  color  was  soft  and  winning. 

"  There  is  no  occasion,"  she  said  coldly.  "  We 
will  come  to  you." 

"At  my  house,  then.  I've  a  decent  enough 
apartment,  Esther,  and  Kitty  is  at  home  in  it." 

"  At  your  office,  if  you  will  allow  it,"  rejoined 
Miss  Wainwright  stiffly. 

At  his  office  it  was  that  they  met  a  few  weeks 
later.  Miss  Wainwright  and  her  niece  were  ush- 
ered into  a  private  room,  and  there  Judson  Dyett 
soon  joined  them,  —  fresh,  smiling,  debonair,  look- 
ing on  such  good  terms  with  himself  and  the  world 
that  Esther  felt  again,  as  she  had  at  their  previous 
interview,  suddenly  older,  plainer,  more  humdrum 
than  usual.  Her  rigid  pose  made  the  contrast  of 
Kitty's  manner  the  more  sharp.  As  her  uncle 
entered  the  room  the  young  girl  jumped  up  and 
threw  her  arms  around  his  neck. 


250  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

"  Dear  Uncle  Jud !  Why  have  n't  you  come 
to  see  me  ?  "  she  cried. 

He  retained  her  hand,  or  she  his,  as  she  drew 
him  toward  the  divan  where  Esther  was,  and 
made  him  sit  down,  placing  herself  between  the 
two. 

"  It  is  n't  so  far  on  the  cars,  is  it,  Aunt 
Esther?" 

The  latter  stirred  uneasily,  and  pretty  Kitty, 
with  a  loving  glance,  took  her  aunt's  hand  with 
her  free  one,  and  looked  content  at  holding  both 
her  relatives  captive. 

"  To  tell  the  truth,  I  've  almost  forgotten  the 
way  to  your  Aunt  Esther's  house.  Her  latch- 
string  is  not  for  the  likes  of  me,"  said  Dyett. 

The  girl  looked  up  doubtfully  at  the  quiet  tone. 

"Your  uncle  is  a  very  busy  man,"  said  Miss 
Wainwright  briefly. 

The  situation  was  not  at  all  comfortable  for 
Esther.  Kitty  was  but  a  slender  barrier  between 
her  and  the  person  who  kept  sending  calm  glances 
at  her  over  their  niece's  head ;  and  moreover  the 
girl  was  doing  the  most  foolish  and  risky  things 
with  the  hands  she  held,  beating  them  softly  up 
and  down  in  her  lap,  and  almost  striking  them 
together.  Esther  was  in  poignant  momentary 
dread  lest  hers  should  be  forced  against  that  large 
strong  one,  still  brown  from  the  summer's  cruis- 
ing. Yet  she  would  not  forcibly  withdraw  her 
hand.  She  was  too  jealous  of  the  love  that  had 


A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  251 

welcomed  her  rival,  and  she  was  glad  to  keep  a 
hold  on  Kitty. 

"  I  have  n't  told  you  yet  what  we  are  here  for, 
my  dear,"  she  added  seriously. 

"  Anything  but  to  see  Uncle  Jud  ?  "  inquired 
the  girl  naively. 

Miss  Wainwright's  lips  contracted.  "  You  may 
tell  her  if  you  prefer,"  she  said  to  Dyett. 

"  I  fancy  you  would  state  the  case  better,"  he 
returned.  "  At  least,  you  would  be  better  satis- 
fied. I  am  willing  to  give  you  every  advantage." 
The  smile  that  accompanied  this  was  so  boyish, 
and  there  was  such  a  teasing  twinkle  in  the  man's 
eyes,  Esther  felt  that  she  hated  him.  Moreover, 
at  this  moment  Kitty,  looking  up  in  her  curiosity, 
absent-mindedly  dropped  her  uncle's  hand  upon 
her  aunt's,  and  it  rested  there. 

Miss  Wain wright  started.  "  I  wish  to  lean 
back,  Kitty,"  she  said  quickly,  and  relinquishing 
her  niece  to  the  enemy,  she  withdrew  herself  and 
sat  back  in  the  corner  of  the  divan. 

From  this  retreat  she  stated  the  situation  to  her 
niece,  and  gave  the  girl  her  choice  of  the  alterna- 
tives already  agreed  upon,  while  Judson  Dyett, 
pulling  his  fair  mustache,  looked  from  one  to  the 
other  in  silence. 

"  But  how  unkind  !  "  said  Kitty  piteously,  when 
she  had  finished. 

"  What  is  unkind  ?  " 

"  To  ask  me  to  choose  between  you." 


252  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

Miss  Wainwright  bit  her  lip,  surprised.  Dyett 
regarded  her  in  mild  triumph. 

"  You  see,  I  'm  in  this,  Esther,"  he  remarked. 
"  I  did  n't  think  you  had  all  the  facts." 

"  But  even  if  I  do  take  turns  living  with  you 
half-years  about,  I  suppose  we  should  all  three  be 
together  a  good  deal  anyway,  naturally,  should  n't 
we  ?  "  asked  Kitty. 

Dyett  pulled  his  mustache  more  industriously, 
and  fixed  Miss  Wainwright  with  a  curious  regard. 

"  No,  my  dear,"  she  replied,  "  for  this  reason  : 
Your  uncle  and  I  have  very  different  tastes,  very 
different  friends.  No  matter  how  much  we  might 
determine  to  be  sociable "  —  Mr.  Dyett  coughed, 
and  Esther's  New  England  conscience  winced ; 
nevertheless  she  proceeded  firmly  —  "we  should 
not  really  see  much  of  each  other.  But  I  don't 
urge  you,  Kitty.  He  can"  —her  voice  broke  a 
little  —  "  he  can  give  you  a  gayer  life  than  I  can. 
Your  —  your  mother  trusted  him." 

"  And  that  is  more  than  you  do,  Esther,  eh  ?  " 
For  the  first  time  his  face  lost  its  nonchalance. 

"  Well,  but  at  certain  times,"  persisted  Kitty. 
"  There  are  certain  times  when  families  must  be 
together,  like  Thanksgiving  and  Christmas  and 
birthdays,  you  know." 

Evidently  there  was  no  recognition  in  her  mind 
of  the  fact  that  these  two  who  stood  in  such  close 
relation  to  her  were  unrelated  to  one  another,  and 
that  she  was  their  only  tie  of  interest.  "  Here 


A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  253 

comes  Thanksgiving  now  in  three  weeks.  If  I 
spend  my  first  half-year  with  you,  Aunt  Esther, 
of  course  Uncle  Judson  will  be  with  us  on  Thanks- 
giving day." 

"  Ahem  —  no.  Ahem  —  yes,"  replied  Miss 
Wainwright,  taken  very  much  by  surprise  and  in 
sore  straits.  Kitty's  large,  surprised  eyes  were 
upon  her.  "  Deborah,  you  know  —  Deborah  is  n't 
well  this  fall.  She  "  - 

"  I  '11  have  the  dinner,"  said  Dyett,  his  lips 
twitching.  "  Come  to  my  house.  If  you  will 
honor  my  humble  roof  —  I  mean  ceiling  —  I  don't 
suppose  a  flat  can  be  said  to  have  a  roof  —  I  '11 
get  the  biggest  turkey  in  town." 

"Yes,  yes,"  said  Kitty,  "that's  what  we'll 
do!" 

Her  aunt  kept  silent,  but  her  breast  heaved  and 
her  color  rose,  and  Judson  Dyett  knew  her. 

"  Is  it  agreed,  Esther  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  will  come,"  she  answered  rather  breathlessly 
and  at  bay,  "  unless  I  am  ill." 

Her  adversary  looked  at  her  and  her  eyes  fell. 

"  Don't  you  think,"  he  asked  dryly,  "  that  you 
wrould  be  less  liable  to  be  ill  on  Thanksgiving  if  I 
took  a  room  at  N — 's  "  (naming  a  famous  caterer) 
"  and  we  met  on  neutral  ground  to  celebrate  the 
day  ?  Come,  we  want  to  make  this  little  girl  have 
a  good  time,  don't  we  ?  " 

Miss  Wainwright  blushed  painfully.  "  That 
might  be  a  good  arrangement,"  she  answered. 


254  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

Kitty  stared  first  at  one  and  then  at  the  other. 
"  How  strangely  you  both  act,"  she  said. 

Her  uncle  replied,  and  for  once  her  aunt  was 
grateful  to  him.  "  We  're  a  little  bit  jealous. 
Can't  you  see  it,  Kitty  ?  You  're  a  bone  of  con- 
tention, little  girl.  You  don't  look  it."  He  scanned 
her  approvingly.  "  I  admit  that  there 's  nothing 
bony  in  your  appearance." 

"  But  you  simply  must  n't  contend  over  me. 
You  must  n't,"  she  replied.  "  I  love  you  both." 

"  Then  we  eat  turkey  at  N — 's  ?  "  said  Dyett, 
looking  at  Esther. 

She  nodded.     "  I  agree,"  she  answered. 

Kitty  raised  her  eyebrows.  "  That 's  certainly 
funny,"  she  said  doubtfully,  "but  it  might  be 
fun." 

The  girl  meditated  often  on  this  interview  before 
Thanksgiving  arrived.  There  were  some  incidents 
in  that  talk  that  started  her  fancy  to  dreaming 
dreams. 

But  it  was  such  a  strange  idea  to  think  of  two 
quite  old  people  —  people  who  had  looked  just  as 
they  did  now  ever  since  she  was  born  —  being  shy 
of  each  other,  or  feeling  —  oh,  that  way,  you 
know ! 

If  Uncle  Jud  did  admire  Aunt  Esther,  he  should 
see  how  pretty  she  could  look,  that  was  all.  Kitty 
overrode  all  Miss  Wainwright's  objections,  and 
fluffed  out  her  hair  and  insisted  on  decorating  the 
front  of  her  aunt's  black  waist  with  her  finest  lace, 


A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  255 

and  anticipated  the  novel  celebration  of  the  day 
openly. 

Poor  child !  It  was  so  many  years  since  her 
mother  had  been  able  to  share  a  Thanksgiving 
dinner  with  her,  she  had  not  the  usual  associations 
to  overcome ;  and  her  curiosity  was  aflame  to  see 
her  uncle  and  aunt  once  more  together. 

To  Esther  Wainwright  that  dinner  was  a  dreaded 
ordeal.  Calm,  unruffled  life  could  only  begin  again 
when  it  was  over.  For  Kitty's  sake  she  deter- 
mined to  suspend  all  memories  and  all  defensive 
tactics ;  to  try  not  to  chill  the  genial  mood  of  their 
host  to-day. 

"  Of  course  there  are  things  I  don't  understand 
about  this,"  said  Kitty,  when  the  two  were  on  their 
way  into  town.  "  Deborah  seems  very  well  to  me, 
and  —  I  don't  see  why  you  should  want  to  snub 
Uncle  Judson." 

This  bluntness  brought  a  color  to  Miss  Wain- 
wright's  pale  cheeks  which  remained  there  for  her 
host  to  see  and  approve.  "You  can't  expect  to 
understand  everything,"  she  answered  ;  "  and  your 
uncle  and  I  have  been  strangers  for  too  many 
years  for  me  to  dream  of  snubbing  him." 

A  couple  of  hours  later,  as  the  three  were  eating 
the  varied  dessert  of  a  regulation  Thanksgiving 
dinner  in  the  cosy  private  room  at  N — 's,  with  the 
waiter  dismissed,  Kitty  Dyett  leaned  back  in  her 
chair  and  looked  from  her  uncle  to  her  aunt  ap- 
provingly. 


256  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

"  Aunt  Esther  promised  she  would  be  as  sweet 
as  peaches  to-day,"  she  remarked  disconcertingly, 
"  and  I  think  she  has  been,  don't  you  ?  " 

Mr.  Dyett  bowed  seriously.  "  She  has  kept  her 
word  nobly." 

"  You  see,  I  just  dread  to  have  this  day  over," 
went  on  Kitty  plaintively ;  "  you  've  both  been  so 
dear,  and  the  bone  of  contention  has  had  such  a 
happy  time.  I  don't  want  to  feel  that  there  are  n't 
any  more  such  coming.  Are  we  always  going  to 
be  obliged  to  meet  in  a  restaurant  or  a  trolley  car 
or  some  other  neutral  place  before  you  two  can  be 
nice  to  each  other  ?  " 

In  the  long  moment  that  followed  Miss  Wain- 
wright  blamed  herself  despairingly  for  not  having 
taken  this  chatterbox  into  her  confidence,  and 
thereby  restrained  her  tongue. 

"  That  was  nonsense,"  went  on  the  girl,  "  was  n't 
it,  Uncle  Jud,  about  you  and  Aunt  Esther  being 
jealous  of  me  ?  "  she  added  wistfully. 

"  I  don't  know,"  returned  her  uncle  musingly. 
"  I  've  been  thinking  while  we  dined  to-day  how 
wonderfully  you,  Kitty,  resemble  the  girl  I  loved 
when  I  was  a  youngster." 

"  Did  n't  she  love  you,  the  goose  ?  " 

"  Quite  as  well  as  I  deserved.  Not  enough  to 
come  halfway  and  meet  my  advances  after  I  had 
been  ass  enough  to  take  offense  at  something  she 
did.  She  never  forgave  me  —  never."  He  finished 
slowly,  and  the  fingers  of  one  hand  drummed  softly 


A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  257 

on  the  tablecloth  as  he  gazed  thoughtfully  into  his 
niece's  bright  eyes. 

"  Then  I  hope  you  forgot  her  as  she  deserved  ?  " 

"  No,  never  for  a  day." 

"  Then,  of  course,  she  married  somebody  ?  " 

"  No,  I  think  she  forswore  mankind  in  my  per- 
son." 

"  Uncle  Jud ! "  The  depth  of  contempt  and 
reproach  that  looked  at  him  from  the  wise  eyes  of 
feminine  nineteen ! 

"  What 's  the  matter  ?  " 

"  The  matter  is  that  you  've  simply  wasted  — 
well,  fifteen  years  anyway  —  that  is,  if  she 's 
alive." 

"  What  makes  you  so  sure  ?  " 

"  You  said  she  looked  like  me.  She  would  have 
married  somebody  —  sure  —  if  she  had  n't  liked 
you  just  —  exactly  "  —  Kitty  emphasized  her  words 
on  the  tablecloth  with  a  small  fist  — "  as  much  as 
you  wanted  her  to.  Oh,  poor  silly  Uncle  Jud !  " 

He  kept  his  gaze  on  the  speaker,  nor  stirred  an 
eyelash  toward  the  flushing,  paling  woman  on  his 
other  hand.  But  Kitty  suddenly  turned  toward 
her.  "•  Aunt  Esther,  I  can't  spend  my  first  half- 
year  with  you,"  she  exclaimed.  "  It 's  my  duty 
to  stay  with  this  poor,  half-witted  man  and  help 
him  find  that  dear  woman  who  is  thinking  about 
him  all  this  tune  —  I  just  know  she  is." 

"  But  she  is  a  faded  old  maid  by  now,"  said 
Miss  Wainwright  faintly. 


258  A   NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING 

"  Like  you,  perhaps,"  jeered  Kitty.  "  Does  n't 
she  look  like  a  rose,  Uncle  Jud?" 

"  Better  stay  with  your  aunt,  Kitty.  You  '11 
find  her  easier  by  living  with  her,"  said  Mr. 
Dyett. 

"  What  ?  Oh  !  "  ejaculated  the  girl,  with  a  start, 
apparently  overwhelmed  by  this  enlightenment. 

"  You  have  us  both  at  your  mercy,  Esther." 
The  man  looked  at  his  old  sweetheart  now.  "  I 
confess  that  I  urged  Lucy  into  this  arrangement 
for  Kitty.  I  have  n't  been  able  to  forget,  but  you 
were  always  repellent.  This  was  my  last  chance. 
I  've  nothing  to  plead  for  myself  but  that  you  hold 
the  place  in  my  heart  to-day  that  you  always  had." 

"  Oh,  if  there  were  anywhere  I  could  go ! " 
mourned  Kitty,  jumping  up  distractedly.  "  It 's 
all  the  fault  of  your  wicked  obstinacy  again,  Aunt 
Esther.  If  you  had  entertained  us  nicely  at  home 
I  could  slip  upstairs  now,  and  you  'd  never  know 
I  'd  gone  —  but  here,  in  a  restaurant  —  why,  I 
just  cant  do  anything  but  turn  my  back."  She 
suited  the  action  to  the  word. 

"  It  is  too  late,  Judson,"  said  Miss  Wainwright, 
trembling.  "  I  am  too  set  in  my  ways.  So  are 
you.  We  ought  not  to  think  of  it." 

Silence  fell,  and  Kitty  turned  stealthily  to  spur 
the  dejected  lover  with  a  glance ;  but  Mr.  Dyett 
had  Esther's  hand  in  his,  and  his  lips  were  pressed 
upon  it,  and  the  girl  jerked  hastily  back  again  in 
silence. 


A    NEUTRAL    THANKSGIVING  259 

"  I  'm  quite  sure  I  'in  doing  wrong  I  "  exclaimed 
Miss  Wainwriglit  tremulously,  at  last.  "  It  can't 
possibly  be  right  to—  I  must  think." 

"  Dear  me,  Aunt  Esther,"  came  from  Kitty's 
averted  curly  head,  "  you  've  thought  twenty  years, 
and,  added  to  that,  it 's  almost  as  much  more  that 
I  've  been  kept  standing  here.  One  thing  sure," 
after  a  pause,  "  if  you  don't  have  him  I  shall  live 
with  him  all  the  time  —  the  poor  darling!  I 
could  n't  do  less." 

Silence  again.  Kitty  waited  a  little,  and  then 
turned  slowly.  What  she  saw  was  a  glimpse  of 
heaven  through  the  open  gate  of  love.  Her  eyes 
filled,  and  a  sort  of  awe  stole  over  her. 

"  It  is  Thanksgiving  day,  is  n't  it  ?  "  she  said 
softly  and  timidly. 

"  Yes,  dear,"  said  Judson  Dyett,  holding  out  his 
hand  to  her,  "  it  is  Thanksgiving  day !  " 


MARY  ANNIE 

"I  'M  all  fer  peace.  Mary  Annie  ain't."  Solon 
Bryce  let  the  reins  hang  loosely  from  one  hand 
whose  arm  was  supported  on  his  knee  as  he  slouched 
down  in  the  habitual  position  which  had  bowed  his 
back  and  which  threw  into  striking  contrast  the 
strong,  erect  figure  of  the  young  man  beside  him. 

"  I  guess  you  're  abaout  the  last  boarder  she  '11 
hook  this  year  —  g'lang,  Bess  —  and  so  I  told  her. 
Fishin'  's  ben  pretty  good  —  better  'n  I  expected,  I 
must  say  —  but  it 's  nigh  onto  September  naow, 
and  it 's  abaout  over.  I  ain't  sorry,  nuther.  It 's 
some  wearin'  haulm'  folks  backerds  and  forrards 
to  the  cars  —  no  offense,  young  man,  but  they  've 
all  ben  women  up  to  naow,  and  I  like  to  speak 
my  mind  naow  I  've  got  a  man  to  speak  it  to. 
Trunks,  too !  The  trunks  alone  is  enough  to  make 
a  body  sweat  to  think  on  'em." 

At  the  gloomy,  introspective  frown  on  the  old 
man's  face  his  companion's  half  smile  became  more 
pronounced.  "  I  see,"  he  remarked ;  "  you  are 
taking  boarders  against  your  will." 

"  Not  much  I  ain't  a-takin'  'em  —  g'lang,  Bess  ; 
it 's  my  niece.  Women  's  allers  at  the  bottom  o' 
trouble,  and  you'll  find  it  aout  sometime  if  you 


MARY  ANNIE  261 

hain't  a'ready.  I  'm  all  fer  peace,  myself ;  Mary 
Annie  ain't.  She  kep'  school  last  winter  over  Law- 
rence way,  and  though  I  missed  her  I  got  along, 
and  took  comfort,  too ;  but  come  toward  spring 
Mary  Annie  wrote  me  she  was  goin'  to  come  home 
and  keep  boarders  this  summer.  I  diskerridged 
her.  I  wrote  back  that  boarders  was  vanity  and 
heaviness  o'  sperit,  and  what  more  did  she  want 
than  enough  to  eat;  but  there  ain't  any  way  o' 
headin'  off  Mary  Annie.  She  answered  in  her 
way  —  kinder  light  and  playful  —  that  she  had 
her  future  to  think  of.  She  wanted  to  lay  up 
money  to  buy  trousers.  I  jest  groaned.  I  allers 
knew  Mary  Annie  was  too  full  o'  sperits  and  head- 
strong, and  naow  here  she  was  turnin'  aout  to  be 
one  o'  these  new  women,  plannin'  a'ready  to  wear 
trousers !  She  came  right  home  after  that,  and  I 
faced  her  down  with  it.  She  laughed  and  said 
I  had  n't  read  it  right ;  said  petticoats  was  good 
enough  for  her  if  she  only  had  enough  of  "em.  But 
she  got  as  red  as  a  beet,  even  though  she  would  n't 
give  up  her  plan,  not  an  inch  of  it." 

"  Your  niece  was  writing  about  her  trousseau, 
perhaps,"  said  the  new  boarder,  much  entertained. 

His  companion  nodded.  "  You  've  got  it.  That 's 
what  she  claimed.  I  guess  that 's  yer  aunt  on  the 
piazza,"  added  the  old  man  suddenly,  as  the  wagon 
turned  in  toward  the  farmhouse.  "  She  's  ben  in  a 
great  takin'  to  git  ye  here.  Ye  don't  look  so  sick 
to  me." 


262  MARY  ANXIE 

"  No,  I  'm  about  right  again ;  but  Mrs.  Pomeroy 
has  insisted  for  weeks  that  a  fortnight  of  Miss 
Bryce's  entertainment  would  do  me  more  good  than 
months  at  the  seashore." 

"  Owen,  my  dear  boy !  "  exclaimed  the  plump 
little  woman  on  the  piazza,  coining  down  the  steps 
at  that  moment. 

Owen  Chalmers  had  seen  his  room,  and  was  now 
being  personally  conducted  by  his  aunt  to  where 
the  afternoon  sunshine  sifted  through  the  branches 
of  a  huge  old  elm  tree. 

"  Is  n't  this  ideal  ?  "  she  asked.  "  Miss  Bryce 
has  had  these  seats  fixed  so  ingeniously  to  get  the 
best  shade ;  but  then,  she  always  sees  the  best  way 
to  do  everything." 

Chalmers  stretched  himself  upon  the  rustic  seat 
his  aunt  had  indicated.  "  That  is  where  you  and 
Uncle  Solon  differ,"  he  remarked,  repressing  a 
yawn,  and  thinking  wistfully  of  a  certain  gay  cir- 
cle he  had  abandoned  the  previous  evening  at  the 
seaside. 

"  Uncle  Solon ! "  repeated  Mrs.  Pomeroy  im- 
patiently. "  I  suppose  the  poor  old  fellow  has 
droned  you  nearly  to  death.  He  is  no  more  Miss 
Bryce's  uncle  than  you  are.  He  is  some  distant 
relative  that  her  father  left  on  her  hands  when 
he  died.  But  she  is  as  good  to  him  as  an  own 
daughter  could  be." 

The  warm  interest  in  the  speaker's  voice  sur- 
prised Chalmers  mildly. 


MARY  ANNIE  263 

After  a  moment's  silence  he  followed  the  bent  of 
his  thoughts  and  began  speaking  of  mutual  friends. 
While  he  was  talking  there  came  across  the  grass 
toward  him  a  girl  on  a  bicycle.  Her  dark  skirt, 
high,  trim  leather  boots,  and  dark  hat  were  relieved 
by  a  light  shirt  waist  whose  sleeves  fluttered  breez- 
ily as  she  swiftly  advanced. 

Owen's  speech  grew  slower.  There  was  a  style 
about  this  girl.  As  she  passed  them  he  caught  his 
breath.  He  felt  the  conscious  power  of  her  pose 
and  expression.  He  flushed  at  the  brief,  smiling 
glance  she  flung  at  Mrs.  Pomeroy. 

"  I  thought  you  said  all  the  boarders  had  gone !  " 
he  ejaculated. 

His  aunt  watched  him  closely.     "  They  have." 

"  Don't  tell  me  that  is  Mary  Annie !  " 

"  There  now !  I  thought  I  was  n't  in  my  dotage," 
said  Mrs.  Pomeroy  triumphantly. 

Chalmers  did  not  hear  her.  He  had  turned  in 
time  to  see  the  lithe  figure  jump  from  the  wheel  and 
pause  to  give  directions  to  a  workman  who  was 
mending  a  fence. 

"  Well,  Lawrence  is  a  good  deal  of  a  town,"  he 
said  at  last. 

"What?" 

"  Lawrence  is  where  she  teaches,  is  n't  it  ?  I  sup- 
pose she  is  engaged  to  somebody  there." 

"  Indeed  she  is  n't.  She  told  me  herself  she  did 
not  meet  a  man  the  whole  winter  whom  she  pre- 
ferred to  a  book." 


264  MARY  ANNIE 

"  Then  where  is  he  ?  " 

"  There  is  n't  any  he." 

"  Certainly  there  is.  Uncle  Solon  confided  in 
me.  It  seems  it  is  already  a  question  of  the  trous- 
seau." 

"  For  pity's  sake,  Owen  Chalmers,  tell  me  at  once 
all  you  know  about  it.  I  have  spent  hours  cogita- 
ting over  that  girl's  future  !  " 

"  Nothing,  absolutely.  If  I  had  seen  her  then, 
I  should  have  been  tempted  to  draw  him  out." 

Mrs.  Pomeroy  was  sitting  up  very  straight,  and 
her  eyes  had  a  far-away  look.  "  That  would  n't  be 
right,"  she  said  decidedly.  "  Miss  Bryce  must  have 
some  powerful  motive  for  reserve,  for  we  have  had 
many  talks  together  when  it  would  have  naturally 
come  out.  I  am  very  much  astonished  and  —  yes, 
disappointed."  The  lady  gave  a  short  laugh.  "  I 
might  as  well  make  an  open  confession  now." 

Her  nephew  returned  her  look  curiously. 

"  Go  ahead,  Aunt  Jane." 

.  "  I  sent  for  you  with  the  cold-blooded  intention 
that  you  should  fall  in  love  with  this  country  flower, 
—  this  nonesuch,  as  the  people  about  here  would 
call  her." 

"  Oh,  my  subtle  aunt !  " 

"  Yes,  I  was  prepared  to  combat  your  mother 
and  sisters  if  necessary.  Let  me  tell  you,  young 
man,  that  it  is  the  greatest  compliment  I  ever  paid 
you  that  I  thought  you  worthy  of  her." 

Owen  smiled.     "  A  glimpse  was  enough  to  see 


MART  ANNIE  265 

that  she  is  a  queen.  I  perceive  that  I  have  had  a 
narrow  escape  from  at  least  aspiring  to  Mary  Annie 
the  First,  and  incidentally  to  Uncle  Solon." 

"  I  hope  you  will  always  be  able  to  treat  the  sit- 
uation humorously,"  returned  Mrs.  Pomeroy  with 
such  impressive  gravity  that  her  nephew,  seasoned 
society  man  that  he  was,  had  difficulty  in  refrain- 
ing from  laughter. 

The  supper  that  night  appealed  to  a  hungry 
man,  and  lent  added  charm  to  the  hostess  who  dis- 
pensed it.  There  were  but  the  three  of  them  at 
table. 

"Uncle  Solon  likes  supper  of  a  different  sort 
and  at  a  different  time,"  explained  Miss  Bryce 
when  Owen  in  expansive  mood  mentioned  his  drive 
home  from  the  depot  in  a  manner  which  implied 
that  making  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Bryce  had 
been  one  of  the  social  events  of  his  life. 

His  aunt's  countenance  betrayed  resignation  as 
she  observed  that  Mary  Annie  was  making  the 
impression  that  she  had  hoped  for. 

The  folds  of  the  girl's  thin  green  gown  inclosed 
her  beautiful  figure  as  the  calyx  does  the  rosebud. 
Before  the  meal  was  finished  Chalmers,  in  spite  of 
his  knowledge  that  the  rose  had  been  gathered, 
grew  restive  under  the  entirely  cool  attitude  she 
maintained  toward  him. 

"  She  is  a  queen,"  he  repeated  to  his  aunt  when 
they  were  again  alone.  "  Do  you  suppose  she  con- 
descended to  make  that  shortcake  ?  " 


266  MARY  ANNIE 

"  I  know  she  did,"  replied  Mrs.  Pomeroy  tragi- 
cally. 

"  Heavens  !    That  settles  it. 

"  '  To  know  her  is  to  love  her, 
And  love  but  her  forever. 
For  Nature  made  her  what  she  is, 
And  ne'er  made  sic  anither ! '  " 

"  Oh,  Owen,  don't  joke  !     Who  can  it  be  ?  " 

"  How  can  I  guess  ?  It  is  enough  that  it  is 
somebody.  A  pretty  trick  you  have  played  me." 

Chalmers  had  no  mustache  to  twist,  so  he  tor- 
tured his  watch  chain  as  he  stood,  his  feet  planted 
apart,  a  half  humorous,  half  earnest  smile  play- 
ing over  his  face  as  he  recalled  the  sweep  of  Mary 
Annie's  lashes  and  the  curves  of  her  velvet  lips. 

The  next  morning  Owen,  in  knickerbockers,  was 
on  hand  when  Miss  Bryce  brought  out  her  wheel. 

"  Perhaps  you  will  let  me  ride  with  you,"  he  said, 
rolling  his  bicycle  to  where  she  stood. 

She  shook  her  head  decidedly,  and  her  smile 
might  have  been  intended  for  the  cat  that  rubbed 
against  her  well-fitting  boot.  "  It  is  not  pleasant 
where  I  am  going,  but  there  are  pretty  rides  about 
here.  You  will  enjoy  exploring.  I  have  a  busi- 
ness errand  to  do  myself.  Wheels  are  a  wonder- 
ful saving  of  time  and  strength,  are  n't  they  ?  Good 
morning,"  and  she  was  off. 

Chalmers  looked  after  her  with  a  distinct  griev- 
ance. "  Run  away,  little  boy,"  her  manner  seemed 
to  say.  "  You  have  time  to  play.  I  have  n't." 


MARY  ANNIE  2G7 

He  mounted  his  bicycle  and  rode  a  few  minutes 
aimlessly.  Soon  he  wheeled  about  and  returned  to 
the  house.  A  vision  of  Solon  Bryce  sitting  on 
a  log  and  whittling  had  passed  through  his  mind. 
The  vision  proved  a  reality,  and  the  young  man 
took  a  seat  beside  this  rough  bit  of  lichen  which 
dwelt  near  the  rose. 

k>  Miss  Bryce  seems  full  of  business  this  morn- 
ing," he  hazarded. 

"  Yes,  we  're  all  some  busy,"  responded  Uncle 
Solon,  changing  the  straw  he  was  chewing  to  the 
other  side  of  his  mouth.  "  I  Ve  got  some  kindlin' 
to  chop  presently.  Mary  Annie  's  workin'  the  farm 
on  shares  this  season.  It 's  ag'in  my  judgment. 
Takes  a  lot  o'  lookin'  after.  I  'm  all  fer  peace 
myself,  but  Mary  Annie  ain't.  She  's  gone  over 
in  the  plowed  ground  naow.  She  's  got  to  under- 
stand every  last  plan  Woodward  's  got."  Uncle 
Solon  chuckled  with  deliberate  enjoyment.  "  One 
thing  I  Ve  got  to  be  thankful  for,  anyway :  I  ain't 
Woodward  !  " 

Chalmers  was  astonished  at  the  number  and  in- 
tensity of  emotions  which  suddenly  ran  riot  beneath 
his  calm  exterior.  The  only  idea  which  cleared 
itself  in  his  mind  was  a  suspicion  followed  by  a 
yearning  to  relinquish  the  identity  of  Owen  Chal- 
mers, the  favorite  of  Fortune,  and  be  one  Wood- 
ward, standing  in  the  plowed  ground  with  Mary 
Annie,  and  responding  to  the  lights  and  shadows 
in  her  eyes. 


268  MARY  ANNIE 

His  aunt  approached  restlessly,  hesitated,  then 
spoke  to  Chalmers  in  a  low  tone.  "  It  must  be 
somebody  near  by.  I  always  carry  the  mail  myself, 
and  always  call  for  it." 

Uncle  Solon  glanced  up  as,  after  this  oracular 
utterance,  the  lady  disappeared. 

"  Seems  if  Mis'  Pomeroy  had  somethin'  on  her 
mind ;  but  women  don't  take  no  peace  anyway.  If 
'taint  one  thing,  't  is  another." 

"  It  is  somebody  near  by,"  said  Owen  to  his  aunt 
when,  later,  he  had  followed  and  found  her.  "  It 
is  one  Woodward,  who  works  the  farm  for  her." 

"  I  don't  remember  the  name,"  said  Mrs.  Pome- 
roy, her  lips  nearly  quivering.  "Did  Uncle  Solon 
teUyou  so?" 

"  No,  but  she  has  gone  to  see  the  man  now.  She 
refused  to  let  me  go  with  her.  Eveiything  points 
to  it.  I  am  going  fishing,"  added  Owen  ab- 
ruptly. 

"  To  see  if  there  is  truth  in  the  adage  ?  "  Mrs. 
Pomeroy's  smile  had  a  tear  in  it.  "  There  is  not. 
There  are  n't  as  good  fish  either  in  sea  or  brook 
as  she  is ;  but  —  I  '11  try  not  to  be  angry  with 
her." 

Owen  had  to  try,  too,  as  days  passed.  Mary 
Annie  was  such  a  will-o'-the-wisp !  She  was  the 
busiest  person  he  had  ever  known.  He  believed 
she  made  errands  to  avoid  him. 

One  afternoon  —  he  could  hardly  believe  his 
good  fortune  —  he  beheld  her  sewing  out  under 


MARY  ANNIE  269 

the  elm  tree.  She  wore  the  green  gown.  It  was 
the  color  of  the  tiniest,  youngest  leaves  above  her, 
and  he  thought  of  dryads  as  he  hurriedly  ap- 
proached. 

"  So  you  do  sometimes  behave  like  ordinary 
mortals  ? "  he  said,  as  he  took  the  vacant  chair 
near  her. 

"  Always,"  she  returned,  with  that  sweet,  rare 
smile  whose  curves  he  was  always  watching  for  since 
he  had  begun  to  live.  He  had  an  unnamed  contempt 
for  the  aimless  wandering  which  he  had  called  life 
before  the  day  when  he  met  Uncle  Solon  at  the 
little  country  station. 

His  eyes  fell  on  the  fine  hemstitched  band  she 
was  sewing.  "  Is  that  for  the  trousseau  ? "  he 
asked  bluntly. 

Her  eyes  lifted  to  his  with  wonder.  "  Yes," 
she  replied.  "  What  in  the  world  made  you  think 
of  that  ?  " 

"  I  guessed  it."  His  eyes  had  a  gloomy  fire, 
his  voice  a  ring  which  sounded  over-serious  even  to 
his  own  ears. 

She  shook  her  head.  "  Do  you  always  make 
such  uncanny  guesses  ?  I  shall  be  afraid  of  you." 

"  I  wish  you  would  n't,"  he  said  simply.  He 
took  an  end  of  the  long  band  as  it  hung  near  him 
and  examined  it.  "  Do  you  call  this  tape  ?  "  he 
asked. 

He  had  never  heard  Mary  Annie  laugh  before, 
and  a 'wondering  smile  banished  the  Byronic  gloom 


270  MARY  ANNIE 

from  his  countenance  as  the  girl's  infectious  amuse- 
ment burst  forth. 

"  Was  I  so  very  funny  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Yes,  you  were  very  funny,"  she  assured  him. 

"  It  must  be  a  wonderful  thing  to  be  going  to 
be  married,"  he  ventured,  after  watching  her  deft 
fingers  awhile  in  silence. 

"  Yes,"  she  agreed,  without  lifting  those  lashes. 
"  It  is  a  very  serious  thing,  certainly ;  almost  an 
awful  thing." 

She  looked  so  adorable  as  she  said  it  that  Chal- 
mers's heart  tightened.  The  muscles  of  his  brow 
contracted,  too,  but  that  was  because  he  saw  Uncle 
Solon  approaching.  There  was  a  fatuous  smile 
on  the  old  man's  face,  a  smile  of  content  at  having 
discovered  Owen.  The  latter  had  not  considered 
that  the  friendliness  which  he  had  displayed  in 
often  seeking  Mr.  Bryce's  society  might  prove  a 
boomerang  which  would  recoil  upon  him  and  ruin 
a  rare  tete-a-tete. 

"  Do  you  know  what  struck  me  jest  naow  as  I 
was  comin'  along  ?  "  asked  Uncle  Solon. 

"  No,"  returned  Chalmers,  wishing  that,  what- 
ever it  was,  it  had  hit  harder. 

"  I  've  ben  wonderin'  ever  sence  you  come  who 
you  put  me  in  mind  of.  I  've  got  it  naow.  Mary 
Annie,"  addressing  the  girl,  "  it 's  that  feller  was 
on  your  burer.  Mr.  Chalmers  is  the  very  livin' 
image  of  him." 

The  startled  girl  glanced  up    at  the  weather- 


MARY  ANNIE  271 

beaten  face.  "  You  are  mistaken.  There  was  no 
photograph." 

"  No,  't  wa'n't  a  photygraph.  'T  was  done  aout 
in  pen  and  ink.  Don't  you  remember  it  ?  'T  was 
the  day  'fore  Mr.  Chalmers  come.  I  went  to  your 
room  'cause  I  'd  cut  my  finger,  and  I  see  it  then. 
Wall,"  exasperated,  "  if  you  hain't  ever  noticed 
that  that  picter  favors  Mr.  Chalmers  you  hain't 
got  eyes.  It 's  ben  pesterin'  me  ever  sence  he 
come.  I  '11  g'  right  upstairs  naow  and  git  it." 
The  old  man  was  turning  away  with  unprecedented 
energy  when  the  girl  detained  him. 

"  No,  no,"  she  said  hastily.  A  scarlet  flood 
poured  over  her  face.  "  It  is  n't  there,  Uncle 
Solon.  It  has  gone." 

"  I  tell  ye  I  kin  find  it,  and  I  '11  prove  I  'in 
right." 

"No,  Mr.  Bryce.  Why  take  the  trouble?" 
put  in  Chalmers.  His  heart  was  beating  madly 
at  sight  of  the  agitation  in  the  face  and  attitude 
of  the  always  cool,  always  poised  girl,  but  he 
spoke  calmly.  "  Don't  go.  I  '11  take  your  word 
for  it." 

"  Like  ye  as  two  peas  in  a  pod,"  grumbled  the 
old  man  crossly.  "  'T  would  make  ye  laugh  to 
see  it." 

There  was  a  constraint  over  the  cosy  party  at 
supper  that  day,  and  in  the  evening  Owen  an- 
nounced to  his  aunt  that  he  should  return  to  town 
the  next  morning. 


272  MARY  ANNIE 

"  But  you  have  only  been  here  a  week,"  faltered 
the  lady. 

"  I  know."  Chalmers  was  walking  up  and  down 
the  room,  his  tall  form  making  the  ceiling  seem 
lower  than  ever.  "  The  thing  I  have  always  scoffed 
at  has  come  to  me.  There  is  nothing  for  me  to 
do  but  to  get  away." 

Some  sight  suddenly  drew  him  to  the  window. 
The  sun  had  sunk  from  the  cloudy  sky,  but  the 
moon  was  rising.  Stooping,  he  passed  out  through 
the  low  window  upon  the  piazza. 

"  Do  you  ride  without  a  lantern  after  dark  on 
these  country  roads,  Miss  Bryce  ?  " 

"  It  will  be  moonlight,  and  I  know  every  inch 
of  the  way." 

"  Sha'n't  I  go  with  you  ?  I  " —  He  hesitated ; 
it  would  seem  such  an  irrelevant  fact  to  her.  "  I 
go  away  to-morrow." 

There  was  an  instant's  silence  before  the  answer 
came.  "  No,  I  thank  you.  I  must  see  Mr.  Wood- 
ward about  something  I  forgot ;  but  I  shall  be  back 
in  half  an  hour." 

She  had  not  returned  in  half  an  hour  nor  in  an 
hour.  Chalmers  was  watching.  Whatever  her 
motive  for  going  to  Woodward  even  at  evening 
rather  than  to  allow  him  to  come  to  her,  he  thought 
she  was  running  a  risk.  The  moon  she  had  relied 
upon  was  long  ago  obscured. 

"  There  ain't  no  call  to  fret,"  remarked  Uncle 
Solon  when  Owen  went  to  him.  He  looked  up 


MARY  ANNIE  273 

from  his  newspaper  and  grinned.  "  Mary  Annie 
may  have  took  a  notion  to  visit  the  selectmen  and 
labor  with  'em  abaout  good  roads.  She  's  got  that 
bee  in  her  bunnet  naow." 

"  Can  you  tell  me  where  this  Woodward  lives  ?  " 
asked  Chalmers  gravely. 

"  Straight  east  till  ye  strike  the  fust  crossroad. 
Turn  to  yer  left  and  it 's  the  fust  house." 

Two  minutes  later  Owen's  bicycle  lantern  was 
sending  its  little  stream  of  light  along  the  country 
road  as  he  sped  on  an  errand  whose  foolishness  he 
suspected  until  he  was  hailed  by  a  woman's  voice. 
There  in  the  dark,  by  the  side  of  the  road,  sat 
Miss  Bryce,  her  wheel  lying  beside  her. 

"  Your  knife,  please.  Cut  my  boot,"  she  said 
breathlessly. 

He  brought  the  lantern  and  knelt  beside  her, 
freeing  the  swelled  foot  with  all  the  skill  he  could 
bring  to  bear. 

"  I  '11  never  go  wheeling  again  without  a  knife," 
she  said  faintly. 

"  Or  a  lantern.     Are  you  in  great  pain  ?  " 

"  It  feels  better  already.  I  ran  into  a  stick  of 
wood  that  must  have  fallen  from  some  wagon. 
I  was  thinking  of  —  something  else,  and  —  oh,  I 
was  so  glad  to  see  your  light !  " 

The  warmth  of  her  voice,  her  nearness  and  help- 
lessness all  stirred  him. 

"Shall  I  go  and  get  Mr.  Woodward?"  he 
asked  constrainedly. 


274  MART  ANNIE 

The  lantern  revealed  her  beautiful,  surprised 
eyes. 

"  I  thought  perhaps  you  would  rather  he  helped 
you  than  I." 

She  caught  her  lip  in  her  teeth.  "  Oh,  I  don't 
think  I  could  let  him  —  he  is  a  real  good  man,  but 
I  'd  rather  he  did  n't  —  touch  me." 

Chalmers  was  still  on  his  knees.  He  leaned 
toward  her.  "  Then  who  is  it  ?  "  he  asked  despe- 
rately. "  A  great  misfortune  has  befallen  me.  It 
is  cowardly,  perhaps,  for  me  to  speak  of  it ;  but  I 
go  to-morrow.  Who  is  the  man  ?  " 

"  What  man  ?  "  faintly. 

"  Why  should  you  mind  telling  me  ?  The  man 
the  trousseau  is  for." 

"  Oh  !  "  Silence.  "  That  ruffling  was  n't  for 
me  ;  I  'm  making  it  for  a  girl  in  Lawrence." 

"  But  I  know  —  Mr.  Bryce  told  me  —  you  wrote 
him  of  your  own  trousseau." 

Mary  Annie  colored  finely  there  in  the  dark. 
"Did  he  tell  you  that  ?  "  She  smiled.  "That 
was  only  nonsense." 

Owen  began  to  breathe  as  if  he  had  been  run- 
ning. "  Then  is  n't  there  anybody  ?  " 

"  N — o,"  hesitatingly,  then  decidedly,  "  No." 

"  Mary  —  you  have  the  loveliest  name  in  the 
world  —  Mary,  you  have  known  me  only  a  week." 

"  Oh,  I  have  known  you  much  longer.  Mrs. 
Pomeroy  talked  —  and  then  she  had  your  picture. 
I —  I  made  the  sketch  of  it  that  Uncle  Solon  saw." 


MARY  AXNIE  275 

"  Mary !  "  ecstatically. 

"But  I  tore  it  up  the  day  after  you  came." 

"Mary,"  dejectedly.  Then,  rising  with  sudden 
remembrance,  "I  am  stupidly  selfish.  You  are 
suffering.  I  will  carry  you  home." 

"Oh,  no,  indeed.  Help  me  on  my  wheel.  I 
can  pedal  with  one  foot.  This  is  not  a  bad  sprain, 
I  am  sure." 

He  lifted  her  carefully  into  the  saddle.  "  You 
will  have  to  let  me  support  you,"  he  said,  as  the 
wheel  moved  slowly.  "  Don't  pedal.  No  need  of 
it." 

"  And  your  machine  ?  " 

"  Can  lie  there.  Mary,  may  I  change  my  plan 
about  going  away  ?  " 

"  If  you  like." 

"  What  does  that  mean  ?     I  love  you." 

"  But  how  can  you  ?  "  She  objected  in  such  a 
sweet  and  unsteady  voice  that  Owen  held  her  closer. 
"  You  don't  know  me.'' 

"  We  will  get  acquainted  now,"  he  returned. 
"  Are  you  willing  to  try  me,  dear  ?  Do  you  care 
—  just  a  little  for  me  ?  " 

"  It  is  n't  at  all  according  to  my  theory,"  she 
answered  slowly,  happiness  struggling  with  the 
doubt  in  her  voice,  "  but  I  'm  afraid  —  I  do." 

Mrs.  Pomeroy  did  not  have  so  much  trouble 
with  the  relatives  as  she  feared.  She  had  Mary 
Annie  at  her  house  that  winter  in  Boston,  and 
showed  her  off  to  her  heart's  content. 


276  MARY  ANNIE 

An  arrangement  was  made  for  Uncle  Solon's 
continued  comfort  at  the  old  farm.  Indeed,  he 
rather  anticipated  the  unruffled  future  which  he 
foresaw  would  succeed  the  wedding. 

This  took  place  in  June  ;  and  the  last  thing  the 
bride  did  before  the  ceremony  was  to  come,  look- 
ing like  a  fresh  white  rose,  to  the  old  man's  room 
to  inspect  his  unwonted  toilet. 

"That  tie  won't  do,  Uncle  Solon.  Here  is  a 
better  one."  She  tied  it  in  place  herself,  took  his 
wrinkled  cheeks  between  her  hands  and  kissed  him 
affectionately,  then  flitted  down  the  narrow  stairs 
to  where  Chalmers,  radiant,  was  waiting. 

Mr.  Bryce  followed,  wriggling  his  neck  uncom- 
fortably in  his  stiff  collar,  and  as  he  descended  a 
murmured  soliloquy  was  on  his  lips  :  — 

"  I  'm  all  fer  peace.     Mary  Annie  ain't." 


BY  A   MINUTE 

"  FOE,  sir,  my  daughter  Helen  's  a  match  for 
any  man,"  said  Farmer  Burchard,  his  hard  face 
harder  as  he  spoke.  "  She  won't  go  to  her  hus- 
band empty-handed  either.  I  cal'late  to  give 
Helen  Forest  Farm  if  she  marries  to  suit  me;  and 
Forest  Farm,  Ezra  Fairfax,  is  the  prettiest  pro- 
perty in  Middlesex  County." 

The  farmer  and  his  hired  man  were  driving 
along  the  road  to  the  station,  for  Mr.  Burchard 
was  going  off  on  a  week's  trip  to  buy  some  cattle. 

Ezra  made  no  reply  to  this  boast.  He  had 
heard  it  a  number  of  times,  and  as  he  loved  Helen 
Burchard  with  his  whole  heart  it  was  not  pleasant 
to  listen  to,  especially  as  he  understood  at  this 
time  it  was  a  warning  note  intended  to  prevent 
any  philandering  in  his  employer's  absence. 

"  I  shall  never  have  Forest  Farm  if  that  is  the 
price  I  must  pay,"  declared  Helen  herself  a  few 
hours  later,  looking  into  her  lover's  honest  eyes. 
The  two  had  grown  up  together,  the  children  of 
neighbors.  "  I  shall  marry  you  or  nobody,  Ezra. 
I  love  father,  but  his  ambitions  can't  make  wrong 
right.  Haci  he  been  the  one  to  die  instead  of  your 
father  when  we  were  children  I  might  have  been 


278  BY  A   MINUTE 

your  mother's  '  help '  to-day."  The  girl  smiled  in 
a  way  that  warmed  Ezra's  despairing  heart. 

"  If  there  were  only  something  I  could  do  to 
change  matters !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  I  hate  the 
name  of  Forest  Farm!  I  wish  Hosea  Hiiikley 
had  never  sold  it." 

"  He  would  n't  if  he  could  possibly  have  done 
without  the  money,  that  is  certain,"  remarked  the 
girl.  "  What  a  triumph  father  felt  it  to  be  when 
he  secured  it  before  good  Mr.  Hosea  died." 

"  Yes ;  if  that  scamp  of  a  brother  of  his  had  got 
hold  of  it,  I  guess  Mr.  Burchard  might  have  whis- 
tled for  Forest  Farm.  Jim  Hinkley  's  the  biggest 
rascal  unhung,  and  he  hates  your  father.  He  'd 
have  liked  to  spite  him  by  selling  to  somebody 
else.  Well,"  Ezra  heaved  a  mighty  sigh,  "  for  my 
part,  I  'd  be  willing  Jim  had  got  it.  I  ought  not 
to  let  you  cling  to  the  thought  of  me,  Helen ;  it 
will  spoil  your  life." 

The  girl  gazed  at  him  with  frank  tenderness. 
His  sturdy  form  and  bronzed  face  filled  all  her 
horizon.  "Can  you  stop  thinking  of  me?"  she 
asked  simply. 

"  God  knows  I  can't,"  he  answered,  and  then  he 
lifted  his  old  hat  with  a  reverent  gesture  and  kissed 
her. 

The  next  day  he  was  plodding  along  the  street 
to  the  village  filled  with  the  problem  that  always 
absorbed  him,  when  a  stranger  accosted  him.  He 
looked  up  and  beheld  an  elderly  gentleman  with 


BY  A   MINUTE  279 

the  stamp  of  city  life  upon  his  face,  clothing,  and 
manner. 

"  Young  man,"  the  latter  began,  "  can  you  tell 
me  the  whereabouts  of  a  place  known  as  Forest 
Farm?" 

"  Yes,"  replied  Ezra.  "  Walk  right  ahead  and 
take  the  first  turning  to  the  left,  and  as  soon  as 
you  cross  the  creek  you  're  there ;  "  then,  with  a 
bluntness  which  amused  his  interlocutor,  he  con- 
tinued :  "  Were  you  thinking  of  renting  it  ?  " 

The  stranger  smiled  leniently  and  tapped  his 
hand  with  a  legal  paper  he  held.  "  No,  I  was  n't 
thinking  of  renting  it,"  he  answered  deliberately ; 
"  I  am  thinking  of  buying  it.  In  fact,  I  —  have 
just  bought  it.  My  daughter  saw  the  place  and 
thought  she  would  like  it  for  a  summer  home,  and 
I  have  come  down  to  take  a  look  at  it  myself. 
My  deed  here  will  assist  me  in  locating  bounda- 
ries. I  'ni  much  obliged  to  you." 

The  kindly  stranger  bowed  and  moved  on,  leav- 
ing Ezra  to  stare  after  him,  his  lips  parted,  his 
thoughts  in  a  turmoil. 

His  face  reddened  under  its  bronze.  In  some 
uncomprehended  way  had  his  chance  come  ?  Might 
he  do  for  Allan  Burchard  some  service  which 
should  win  him  Helen? 

He  made  a  swift  movement  to  follow  the  stran- 
ger, as  suddenly  changed  his  mind,  and  charged  up 
the  village  street  at  a  pace  which  scattered  the 
children  before  him  like  leaves  in  the  wind. 


280  BY  A   MINUTE 

Squire  Winslow,  sitting  at  the  desk  in  his  sec- 
ond-story office,  looked  startled  as  steps  dashed  up 
the  wooden  stairs  and  the  young  man  burst  into 
the  room.  "  Well !  What 's  the  matter,  Ezra 
Fairfax  ? "  exclaimed  the  old  man,  pushing  his 
chair  back,  images  of  dire  catastrophes  crowding 
through  his  brain. 

"  I  don't  know,"  gasped  the  other,  dragging  a 
seat  to  the  desk  and  falling  into  it.  Then  with 
catches  of  the  breath  he  told  his  story. 

The  squire  pushed  up  his  spectacles  and  listened, 
frowning.  "  Certainly,  I  remember  the  transfer  of 
Forest  Farm,"  he  said.  "  I  drew  the  deed.  You 
say  Mr.  Burchard  is  away.  Could  n't  he  have  " 

"No,  he  has  only  been  gone  since  yesterday, 
and  he  told  me  the  day  he  left  he  was  going  to 
give  the  place  to  his  daughter.  Jim  Hinkley  's  at 
the  bottom  of  this,  somehow  or  other." 

Squire  Winslow  found  time  even  amid  his  prob- 
lem to  admire  Ezra's  keen,  set  face. 

"  There  's  only  one  thing  that  could  have  made 
it  possible  for  Jim  to  meddle,  and  I  suppose  that 
is  just  the  thing  that  has  happened,"  said  the 
squire,  after  grasping  his  stubbly  chin  in  deep 
thought.  Ezra  scrutinized  him  eagerly. 

"  I  remember  now.  Mr.  Burchard  met  Hosea 
here  in  this  office  and  paid  the  money  and  took 
the  deed.  When  I  offered  to  mail  it  to  the  regis- 
try, Mr.  Burchard  said  he  wanted  to  show  it  to  his 
wife  first.  He  said  he  had  business  in  Lowell  the 


BY   A    MINUTE  281 

next  week  and  would  take  the  deed  to  the  registry 
then  himself.  Now,  perhaps,  he  forgot  it ;  then, 
knowing  Hosea's  honesty,  put  it  off  from  time  to 
time,  and  it  has  never  been  recorded.  Jim  Hink- 
ley  has  wanted  money  pretty  bad  lately,  and  they 
do  say  Satan  takes  care  of  his  own.  Anyway,  he 
must  have  put  that  very  idea  into  Jim's  head. 
Jim  probably  looked  the  matter  up,  found  things 
just  as  he  suspected,  got  a  customer  for  Forest 
Farm,  and  sold  it."  Squire  "VVinslow  misunder- 
stood the  abstracted  thoughtfuluess  that  changed 
his  visitor's  face. 

"  Brace  up,  my  boy,"  he  said  kindly.  "  Get 
back  the  grit  I  saw  in  your  eyes  a  minute  ago,  and 
perhaps  we  '11  beat  Jim  yet."  He  caught  his 
watch  from  his  pocket.  "No,"  he  ejaculated, 
"  you  can't  get  the  deed  and  catch  the  last  train 
to  Lowell." 

"What  —  what's  the  idea?"  asked  Ezra,  sit- 
ting up,  alert  again. 

"  Why,  the  stranger  said  he  'd  just  bought  For- 
est Farm.  It 's  likely  he  's  taking  a  look  at  the 
property  before  recording  his  deed.  If  he  records 
his  first  you  've  lost  the  farm :  but  if  you  could 
any  way  get  yours  in" 

"  I  see ! "  Ezra  sprang  from  his  chair,  a  light 
flashing  all  over  his  face. 

Squire  Winslow  still  had  his  watch  in  his  hand 
and  his  mouth  open  when,  three  steps  at  a  time, 
the  young  man  was  fleeing  downstairs. 


282  BY  A   MINUTE 

"  Bless  me !  "  muttered  the  lawyer,  and  his  own 
hand  trembled  with  excitement  as  he  reached  for 
his  hat  and  followed  after,  as  swiftly  as  his  older 
limbs  would  carry  him. 

Ezra  reached  home  in  an  incredibly  short  period. 
Mrs.  Burchard  saw  him  coming,  and  was  startled 
by  his  look.  She  had  a  kindness  for  her  daugh- 
ter's lover,  but  did  not  dare  to  side  with  him. 

"  Where  's  the  key  to  Mr.  Burchard's  desk  ? " 
he  cried. 

"  In  its  place,"  she  answered  apprehensively. 

"  So  it  is,"  he  gasped  with  relief,  feeling-  behind 
the  secretary  and  producing  it.  "I  saw  Helen 
out  by  the  barn.  Tell  her  to  saddle  Mark  quick, 
please." 

"  Has  Mr.  Burchard  "   —  she  began. 

"  Quick !  "  implored  Ezra,  rummaging  among 
the  papers  with  desperate  eagerness. 

She  obeyed  and  returned.  "  Where  are  you 
going,  Ezra  Fairfax  ?  " 

«  To  Lowell." 

"On  Mark?  What  will  Mr.  Burchard  say? 
You  know  how  he  feels  about  that  colt." 

"  Here  it  is !  "  exclaimed  Ezra  joyously. 

"What?" 

"  The  deed  to  Forest  Farm.  There  's  a  pur- 
chaser "  —  The  young  man  dashed  out  of  the 
house,  leaving  the  desk  in  confusion,  and  ran  to 
the  barn. 

Helen  was  tightening  the  saddle  girths. 


BY   A    .IflXCTE  283 

"  What  is  this  for  ? "  she  asked,  catching  the 
excitement  in  his  face. 

"  It 's  the  only  chance  !  I  can't  talk !  "  he  ex- 
claimed. He  kissed  her,  sprang  on  the  colt's  back, 
and  galloped  off. 

"  Helen,  that  boy  is  crazy !  "  cried  Mrs.  Bur- 
chard  in  distress,  running  out  to  meet  her  daugh- 
ter. "  You  don't  suppose  he  would  dare  to  try  to 
sell  Forest  Farm !  He  has  carried  the  deed  off." 

"  Trust  Ezra,"  said  Helen  stoutly.  "I  do  ; " 
but  her  heart  thumped,  and  she  too  felt  more  trou- 
bled than  ever  before  in  her  life.  Might  Ezra 
really  have  brooded  over  his  troubles  until  his 
mind  had  become  unhinged  ? 

Meanwhile  the  swift  colt  had  met  the  squire  on 
the  road,  and  the  rider  had  reined  up. 

Silently  he  handed  down  the  deed,  which  the 
old  man  examined  eagerly.  "  Just  as  I  thought," 
he  said  curtly  ;  "  not  recorded.  Have  you  money  ? 
Not  enough,  perhaps,  for  everything.  Here,  take 
this." 

Ezra  accepted  the  bill,  and  the  brief  instruc- 
tions which  the  lawyer  went  on  to  give  him. 

"  Better  tell  the  Burchards,  I  guess.  They  '11 
worry  either  way.  Thank  you,  Squire  Winslow." 
Fairfax  swiftly  bent  and  wrung  his  old  friend's 
hand. 

"  God  bless  you !  "  returned  the  lawyer  unstead- 

iiy. 

It  would  take  too  long  to  describe  the  details  of 


284  BY  A   MINUTE 

that  ride.  The  road  was  a  "short  cut"  compared 
to  the  roundabout  way  by  rail  from  Edgecomb  to 
Lowell.  The  brave  colt  did  his  best,  rolling  an 
eye  around  toward  his  rider  occasionally  as  if  to 
ask  why,  when  so  many  steep  hills  had  been  trav- 
eled, he  was  still  urged  on ;  but  when,  jaded  and 
worn,  the  two  finally  reached  Lowell,  the  Registry 
of  Deeds  was  closed.  Ezra's  voice  was  unsteady 
as  he  asked  concerning  the  arrival  of  .the  last  train 
from  Edgecomb.  He  found  that  it  was  in,  but  it 
too  had  arrived  after  registry  hours.  His  chance 
still  remained. 

He  saw  to  his  horse's  comfort ;  but  for  himself 
there  was  no  sleep  that  night.  Too  much  hung  in 
the  balance. 

With  the  first  rays  of  dawn  he  was  walking 
about  the  streets,  waiting  for  the  appointed  hour. 

He  turned  his  steps  toward  the  best  hotel  in  the 
place,  and  lounged  near  at  breakfast  time,  but  he 
did  not  see  the  face  he  sought  among  the  guests. 
Suppose  the  stranger's  deed  had  already  been 
recorded  before  that  experimental  visit  to  Edge- 
comb  !  Ezra  set  his  teeth. 

But  nine  o'clock  drew  on.  He  dared  linger  no 
longer  near  the  hotel,  and  moved  away  toward  the 
court-house.  As  he  approached  the  long  brick 
building  the  hour  sounded  from  a  steeple.  The 
bell  electrified  him  and  he  hurried  on ;  but  sud- 
denly a  sight  more  moving  still  crossed  his  view. 
A  well-dressed  man,  whom  Fairfax  recognized  only 


BY  A   MINUTE  285 

too  certainly,  had  just  ascended  the  steps  and  was 
entering  the  Registry  office.  For  an  instant  things 
turned  black  before  the  tired  man  ;  then  he  nerved 
himself,  slouched  his  hat  over  his  eyes,  sprang  up 
the  steps  after  the  gentleman,  shouldered  him  aside, 
and  edffinsr  through  the  room  ahead  of  him,  reached 

o       o  o  * 

the  desk  first  and  offered  his  shaking  paper. 

"Where  are  your  manners,  yoting  feller?" 
asked  the  registrar,  glancing  back  at  the  some- 
what annoyed  and  surprised  look  on  the  other 
man's  face. 

Ezra's  cold  lips  stammered  something  about  hur- 
rying. 

"  There  's  time  enough  in  this  world  for  folks  to 
be  civil.  You  've  got  the  day  before  you,  have  n't 
you  ?  "  said  the  clerk,  looking,  to  Fairfax's  acute 
apprehension,  as  if  he  might  be  going  to  order  him 
aside  in  favor  of  the  personage  he  had  jostled. 

The  young  man's  excitement  leaped  from  his 
eyes,  but  the  slouched  hat  hid  them.  It  was  none 
of  the  registrar's  business  if  this  clumsy  fellow's 
lips  were  ashy.  He  still  grumbled  as  he  reached 
for  his  rubber  stamp. 

The  dull  thud  with  which  it  struck  the  paper 
sounded  above  the  ringing  in  Ezra's  ears.  Then 
the  clerk  glanced  at  the  clock  and  proceeded  to 
write  in  its  place,  in  legal  form,  the  moment  of 
registration.  Ezra's  hungry  eyes  followed  the 
carelessly  moving  hand  which  unconsciously  held 
his  fate. 


286  BY  A   MINUTE 

"  Nine  hours  and  two  minutes." 

The  words  were  written.  Fairfax's  unsteady 
fingers  dropped  a  silver  dollar  with  a  clash  on  the 
desk.  He  staggered  as  he  moved  aside  to  let  the 
portly  gentleman  take  his  turn. 

The  registrar  with  a  casual  remark  pulled  the 
second  deed  toward  him,  stamped  it,  then  took  up 
the  pen  and  \frote :  — 

"  Nine  hours  and  three  minutes." 

Ezra  held  on  by  a  corner  of  the  desk,  for  the 
clock,  the  prints,  and  the  maps  on  the  walls  were 
chasing  one  another  madly  around  the  room. 
'Forest  Farm  was  saved!     And  Helen? 

Mr.  Burchard  returned  home  to  find  his  strong, 
quiet  "  hired  man  '"  the  hero  of  the  village.  Squire 
Winslow,  delighted  not  a  little  with  his  own  pres- 
ence of  mind  in  the  affair,  had  exploited  Ezra's 
victory  far  and  wide. 

"  You  know  you  always  said,  father,  that  Forest 
Farm  was  to  go  with  me,"  remarked  Helen  de- 
murely, "  so,  logically,  I  go  with  the  farm  —  and 
the  farm  is  really  Ezra's." 

She  opened  her  eyes  at  her  parent  innocently 
and  slipped  her  hand  into  her  lover's,  which  was 
close  by. 

Mr.  Burchard,  still  confounded  by  the  risk  his 
own  carelessness  had  entailed,  stared  at  them  help- 
lessly and  yielded  to  the  inevitable. 

"  Queer  doings,"  he  said  to  himself,  and  blinked 
his  eyes.  "  Queer  doings  !  " 


AT   CREST   VIEW 

"  JUST  Nell's  luck !  "  said  her  sisters,  with  good- 
natured  envy  —  or,  if  that  is  a  paradox,  then  we 
will  say  that  acute  wistfulness  breathed  in  their 
tones. 

Certain  it  is  that  they  both  wished  they  might 
be  invited  to  visit  at  Mrs.  Larrabee's  country 
house  on  a  ridge  of  Orange  Mountain,  to  vibrate 
between  the  joys  of  New  York  and  the  loveliness 
of  spring  in  that  locality,  where  a  large  income  is 
required  to  live  near  enough  to  nature's  heart  to 
see  her  wild  beauty  in  the  time  of  birds  and 
blossoms. 

The  name  of  Larrabee  had  always  stood  to  the 
Morton  girls  as  representative  of  high  life  in  all 
its  fascinating  ramifications.  Their  mother  had 
been  a  fast  friend  of  Mrs.  Larrabee  in  girlhood, 
and  Uncle  Sam's  postal  system  had  preserved  this 
friendship  in  spite,  or  perhaps  because,  of  the  dis- 
tance across  which  the  two  widows'  letters  had 
traveled  for  many  a  year. 

Every  gala  frock  the  Morton  girls  had  ever 
possessed  had  been  made  over  from  some  garment 
sent  their  mother  by  Mrs.  Larrabee.  This  high- 
placed  friend's  Christmas  money  bought  their 


288  AT   CREST    VIEW 

muffs  and  skates.  The  photographs  of  the  ex- 
terior and  interior  of  her  home  were  gazed  upon 
by  them  with  reverent  awe.  Indeed,  were  it  not 
for  the  picture  of  their  benefactress  in  Mrs.  Mor- 
ton's possession,  the  children  would  probably  have 
grown  up  with  an  idea  that  Mrs.  Larrabee  floated 
above  an  inferior  world  on  angelic  pinions.  As  it 
was,  her  thin  features  inspired  them  with  a  fixed 
belief  that  flesh  was  undesirable,  and  her  su- 
periority to  all  the  vulgar  necessities  of  life  went 
without  saying. 

Now  a  letter  had  arrived  bearing  an  invitation 
to  the  eldest  of  the  Morton  girls  to  visit  her.  As 
in  the  case  of  royalty,  an  invitation  from  this  quar- 
ter was  equivalent  to  a  command,  especially  when 
the  request  improved  upon  that  of  royalty  and 
included  a  check  for  traveling  expenses. 

"  I  ask  for  Helen,"  wrote  Mrs.  Larrabee,  "  not 
only  because  she  is  the  eldest,  but  because  her  pic- 
ture looks  so  much  more  like  her  mother  than  the 
others'." 

"  Just  Nell's  luck !  "  said  the  others,  upon  this. 

"  Helen,  if  you  please,"  corrected  that  young 
lady  superbly.  "  Miss  Helen  Morton  is  going  to 
visit  Mrs.  Larrabee,  of  Crest  View.  New  York 
papers  please  take  notice." 

Upon  this  Miss  Morton  executed  an  astonishing 
pirouette,  ending  in  a  deep  courtesy,  which  elicited 
a  melancholy  laugh  from  the  Cinderellas  she  was 
leaving.  It  was  bad  enough  that  they  were  not 


AT   CREST    VIEW  289 

bidden  to  see  the  glories  of  Crest  View ;  but  it  was 
worse  yet  to  exist  a  whole  month  without  Nell. 

So,  though  Gertrude  and  Lucy  thought  it  would 
have  been  much  more  sensible  in  their  mother's 
friend  to  have  cheered  her  spacious  mansion  with 
the  whole  family  of  Morton,  Helen  alone  set  forth 
one  morning,  in  the  midst  of  warm  embraces, 
much  advice,  and  a  few  tears  and  flowers. 

Harry  Forsyth  furnished  the  flowers,  and  had 
some  difficulty  in  not  adding  to  the  tears.  In  his 
opinion,  Mrs.  Larrabee,  if  she  belonged  to  the 
superhuman  species  at  all,  was  an  angel  of  dark- 
ness ;  and  he  returned  Helen's  parting  gladsome 
smile  with  a  gaze  full  of  Byronic  gloom.  * 

Miss  Morton  took  out  her  fountain  pen  as  soon 
as  the  train  started  and  began  a  letter  home.  She 
knew  what  a  gap  her  absence  would  make  in  cer- 
tain quarters. 

"  Be  good  to  Harry,"  she  wrote.  "  Did  you  see 
the  look  with  which  he  cheered  the  traveler  on 
her  way  ?  It  ought  to  have  touched  me,  but  I  feel 
as  if  I  had  one  of  those  red  toy  balloons  inside  me 
to-day  in  place  of  a  heart ;  I  feel  so  elated  and 
inflated ;  and  it  would  take  more  than  a  look  from 
Harry  Forsyth  to  puncture  it  and  let  the  rapture 
out.  But  be  good  to  him.  He  will  like  the  one 
best  who  talks  most  about  me,  and  I  will  bequeath 
him  to  either  of  you  with  pleasure.  Seriously,  I 
feel  that  I  must  do  a  lot  of  thinking,  and  make  up 
my  mind  about  H.  by  the  time  I  come  home.  If 
X) 


290  AT   CREST    VIEW 

either  of  you  would  save  me  the  trouble,  I  should 
be  so  glad." 

When  Helen  had  changed  cars  in  New  York, 
taken  the  suburban  train,  and  reached  the  moun- 
tain station,  she  found  her  hostess  waiting  for  her. 

A  footman  in  light-colored  livery  spoke  her  name 
and  took  her  bag.  Mrs.  Larrabee  put  forth  her 
hand  from  the  glistening  carriage  which  Helen  en- 
tered, and,  silver  chains  jingling  and  bay  horses 
prancing,  they  drove  off  with  much  state  and  cir- 
cumstance. 

Mrs.  Larrabee  bestowed  upon  her  guest  what 
Helen  decided  was  a  spirituelle  kiss,  and  they  ex- 
changed a  gaze,  on  one  side  curiosity,  on  the  other 
eagerness  and  gratitude. 

"  Dear  me  !  You  're  not  nearly  so  much  like 
your  mother  as  I  expected !  " 

The  disappointed  voice  was  like  a  dash  of  cold 
water,  but  Helen  replied  gayly :  "  Then  sometimes 
photographic  fidelity  is  n't  faithful.  I  'm  sorry, 
for  we  all  like  to  look  like  mother." 

"  She  was  a  nice  girl."  Mrs.  Larrabee  looked 
away  absently.  There  were  two  little  worried  lines 
in  her  forehead,  and  they  deepened  as  one  of  the 
horses  reared  restively. 

"  Slowly,  James,"  she  called  querulously.  Helen 
had  been  with  her  hostess  but  two  minutes,  and 
yet  she  perceived  already  that  Mrs.  Larrabee  not 
only  was  not  the  angel  of  her  transfiguring  childish 
dreams  —  she  was  not  even  a  happy  woman. 


AT   CfiEST    VIEW  291 

A  little  chill  crept  along  her  spine.  "  A  month  !  " 
thought  the  girl,  and  the  loving  warmth  of  her 
homely  home-circle  seemed  very  far  away. 

The  satin  touch  of  the  elegant  carriage-lining 
seemed  to  repel  her  as  something  alien.  Her 
spirits  rose.  She  was  here  because  she  had  been 
urged  to  come.  She  could  go  away  when  she 
chose. 

The  horses  pursued  an  ascending,  winding  road, 
a  turn  in  which  brought  them  to  the  gates  of  Crest 
View.  A  vast  stretch  of  country  suddenly  un- 
rolled itself  far  below. 

"  Oh,  how  fine  !  "  exclaimed  the  girl  in  de- 
light. 

"  The  view  is  very  much  admired,"  said  Mrs. 
Larrabee  dispassionately. 

"  And  what  splendid  trees  you  have !  " 

"  Yes,  vegetation  flourishes  in  New  Jersey." 

"  And  what  large  greenhouses !  How  I  shall 
enjoy  seeing  them  !  " 

"  The  gardener  is  very  proud  of  them." 

"  Does  that  fountain  ever  play  ? "  The  en- 
thusiastic girl  looked  eagerly  toward  the  marble 
cherubs  and  dolphins  grouped  above  an  empty 
basin. 

"  Oh,  yes,"  with  cold  listlessness,  "  if  anybody 
cares." 

"  Well,  some  one  has  come  who  does  care  very 
much,"  said  Helen  smiling.  "  I  like  falling  water 
as  well  as  I  do  an  orchestra." 


292  AT   CREST    VIEW 

Mrs.  Larrabee  regarded  her  curiously.  "  We 
haven't  an  orchestra  just  now,"  she  remarked 
dryly. 

The  carriage  stopped  beneath  the  porte  cochere, 
which  Helen  had  often  viewed  with  reverence  in  a 
photograph. 

"  Susannah  will  show  you  to  your  room,  and 
the  dinner-bell  will  ring  in  an  hour,"  were  the 
hostess's  parting  words. 

Helen  looked  around  upon  her  room  with  mingled 
emotions  when  the  maid  had  left  her.  It  was  per- 
fect in  every  appointment.  After  her  ablutions 
she  sat  down  at  the  dainty  desk  and  continued  the 
letter  to  her  family  begun  on  the  cars. 

"  I  have  taken  the  plunge,  —  a  cold  plunge,  I 
assure  you.  Imagine  the  sap  all  squeezed  out  of 
a  poplar-tree,  or  picture  an  attenuated  iceberg,  and 
you  have  my  hostess.  I  'm  going  down  to  dinner 
in  a  minute.  What  will  it  be  like  ?  I  suspect 
nobody  but  a  professional  sword-swallower  could 
make  a  meal  here.  I  anticipate  pokers  with  may- 
onnaise, or  yardsticks  in  cream  !  " 

But  it  was  a  good  dinner  —  indeed,  a  delicious 
dinner  —  that  Helen  found  in  the  great  dining- 
room  with  its  inspiring  views.  Only  the  colorless 
hostess  criticised  the  dishes  and  did  not  look  out 
of  the  windows. 

She  glanced  up  at  Helen  during  the  salad 
course.  "  Can't  you  eat  this  either  ?  "  she  asked 
in  a  vexed  tone.  "  It  has  n't  enough  salt." 


AT   CREST    VIEW  293 

Helen  winked  the  water  away  from  her  eyes 
and  smiled  in  an  embarrassed  fashion.  "  It  is  very 
good,  and  I  am  hungry  ;  but  when  I  chance  to 
glance  out  there  it  is  so  beautiful  that  I  choke  up 
and  can't  swallow." 

"  Dear  me !  "  said  Mrs.  Larrabee.  "  You  are  n't 
at  all  like  your  mother.  I  don't  remember  that 
she  was  imaginative." 

The  visitor  bit  her  lip,  but  she  answered 
bravely :  — 

"  I  've  only  been  sent  on  approval ;  you  can  re- 
turn me  if  I  don't  suit.  I  'm  afraid,  though,"  - 
here  her  voice  faltered  slightly,  but  she  was  proud 
all  night  of  the  fact  that  she  commanded  it  and 
did  n't  cry,  —  "  I  'm  only  afraid  that  we  can't  re- 
fund the  money." 

"  What  are  you  talking  about,  child  ?  I  'm  glad 
you  're  here.  I  don't  like  to  feel  that  there  's  no- 
body in  the  house  I  can  speak  to.  But  I  'in  sorry 
you  can't  see  my  cousin,  Rebecca  Harding.  She  is 
the  most  agreeable  woman  I  ever  knew." 

Curiosity  surged  up  in  Helen's  brain  to  know 
what  traits  Mrs.  Larrabee  would  recommend  so 
highly.  "  I  suppose  Mrs.  Harding  enjoys  this 
beautiful  place,"  she  said  tentatively. 

"  She  thinks  it  is  very  exposed,  and  so  it  is." 

"  But  in  warm  weather  ?  " 

"Oh,  we  spend  the  summer  at  the  seashore, 
although  the  dampness  there  aggravates  Rebecca's 
neuraljria." 


294  AT   CREST    VIEW 

Miss  Morton  hurriedly  put  a  piece  of  shrimp  in 
her  mouth.  The  picture  of  the  two  pampered 
women  chasing  discomfort  through  the  changing 
seasons  made  her  feel  the  necessity  of  something  to 
bite  on,  lest  she  astonish  her  hostess  and  disgrace 
herself. 

Two  little  homesick  tears  paid  tribute  to  the 
situation  about  midnight,  when  the  guest  had  for 
a  long  time  been  vainly  wooing  sleep  in  her  lux- 
urious bed ;  but  when  they  had  once  been  dried 
she  knew  nothing  more  until  morning,  and  then 
her  elastic  spirits  rebounded  with  delight  at  the 
beauty  about  her. 

"  I  wish  my  eyes  were  telescopes,"  she  said  to 
Mrs.  Larrabee  at  breakfast,  where  that  lady  ap- 
peared thinner,  paler,  more  introspective  than  at 
evening. 

"  Oh,  the  views,"  she  replied  in  a  tone  that 
plainly  implied  that  there  was  no  accounting  for 
tastes.  "  There  are  some  field  -  glasses  about. 
Susannah  shall  get  them  for  you  after  breakfast." 

"  And  you  will  come  out  with  me  and  tell  me 
what  things  are,  won't  you  ?  "  said  the  girl  reck- 
lessly. 

Mrs.  Larrabee  looked  at  her  in  astonishment. 
"  The  grass  will  be  wet  for  an  hour ! "  she  an- 
nounced. 

But  Helen  felt  unquenchable.  Her  cheeks  were 
glowing  and  her  eyes  sparkling  with  life.  "  I  do 
think  you  ought  to  be  the  happiest  woman  in  the 


AT  CREST  r//nr  295 

world !  "  she  said.  "  With  such  a  home  as  this 
and  such  power  to  do  good !  Why,  do  you  know, 
we  girls  at  home  have  always  considered  you  as 
nothing  less  than  a  patron  saint !  " 

"  Humph !  I  'in  afraid  a  near  view  will  be  dis- 
illusioning," was  Mrs.  Larrabee's  reply.  Never- 
theless her  face  looked  as  if  a  tiny  drop  of  the  oil 
of  gladness  had  softened  it. 

"  I  do  wish,"  said  Helen  timidly,  "  that  you  felt 
strong  enough  to  enjoy  your  surroundings  more." 

"  That  is  what  Raymond  says." 

"  Oh,  I  remember.  Your  son's  name  is  Ray- 
mond. Mother  has  a  picture  of  him  in  a  velvet 
suit." 

"  Yes.  He  has  gone  West  on  business.  He 
and  Rebecca  left  me  at  the  same  time.  I  hope 
you  can  put  up  for  a  While  with  an  invalid  who 
has  very  little  to  offer  you  beside  scenery." 

Helen's  generous  heart  experienced  a  quick 
revulsion  of  feeling.  She  determined  not  to  send 
the  letter  that  lay  unfinished  upstairs  in  the  drawer 
of  her  wri ting-desk.  "If  I  could  give  you  my 
eyes  for  a  while  you  would  know  how  happy  I 
shall  be,"  she  said  warmly. 

And  just  as  hostess  and  guest  had  come  at  last 
to  what  seemed  a  pleasant  understanding  the  dis- 
turbing cause  made  his  appearance  on  the  scene. 

A  flute-like  whistle,  the  barking  of  dogs,  a  laugh 
and  shout,  suddenly  made  confusion  outside  the 
spacious  windows. 


296  AT   CREST    VIEW 

Mrs.  Larrabee  looked  up  sharply.  "  What, 
Simpson  ?  "  she  said,  addressing  the  butler. 

And  before  the  servant  could  reply  a  broad- 
shouldered,  plain-featured,  square-jawed  man  of 
twenty-five  strode  into  the  room  with  an  air  of 
tardily  suppressing  laughter  and  strength  to  the 
prescribed  limits  of  the  place. 

"  The  bad  penny,  mother,"  he  said,  advancing 
and  kissing  her  cheek  carefully. 

"  Raymond,  you  give  me  palpitation  !  "  she  de- 
clared, her  hand  on  her  heart. 

"  I  'm  sorry,"  he  answered  mechanically ;  for 
whether  he  had  played  football,  or  broken  a  colt, 
or  raced  a  yacht,  or  only  admired  a  new  girl,  he 
had  always  been  giving  his  mother  palpitation. 
"  I  considered  a  telegram,  but  concluded  that  see- 
ing me  in  a  condition  of  rude  health  would  be  less 
of  a  shock.  At  the  last  minute  it  was  decided 
that  I  should  n't  go  West ;  that 's  all." 

Meanwhile  the  speaker  had  glanced  at  his  mo- 
ther's guest,  and  Mrs.  Larrabee  introduced  him. 

"  You  remember  hearing  about  the  Morton  girls, 
Raymond,  —  the  children  of  my  old  schoolmate." 

There  was  more  of  warning  than  of  enthusiasm 
in  the  mother's  tone,  but  Raymond  did  not  notice 
it,  and  Helen  only  vaguely  perceived  that  just  as 
her  hostess  ignored  the  beauties  of  nature  and  art 
about  her  so  she  failed  to  revel  in  this  wealth  of 
youth  and  vitality  which  seemed  to  invest  the 
splendid  home  with  its  rightful  soul. 


AT   CREST    VIEW  297 

Susannah  was  not  obliged  to  search  for  the  field- 
glasses.  No  longer  did  the  guest  lack  a  response 
to  her  enthusiasm,  while  as  for  Raymond  Larrabee 
the  good  comradeship  of  this  fearless  girl  was  a 
surprise  and  pleasure  whose  novelty  did  not  wear 
away  with  the  weeks. 

"  It  seems  to  me  your  business  hours  are  short- 
ening," said  Mrs.  Larrabee  to  him  tartly  one  day 
when  he  came  in  early  from  the  city.  Helen  had 
been  reading  aloud,  and  here  laid  down  the  book. 
"  I  sent  for  Helen  to  be  company  for  me  in  my  lone- 
liness. If  you  are  going  to  begin  to  spend  most  of 
your  time  at  home,  I  need  not  have  troubled  her." 

"  It  is  such  awfully  nice  weather  for  a  ride, 
mother  ;  but  we  '11  drive  if  you  would  rather  go 
with  us.'* 

tk  Thank  you.  I  think  I  will  accept  your  con- 
siderate offer,"  was  the  dignified  reply. 

So  Raymond  swallowed  his  disappointment. 
The  saddle-horses  were  left  in  the  stables,  and 
Mrs.  Larrabee  held  a  silken  wrap  against  her 
cheek  to  keep  the  wind  from  an  offending  tooth, 
and  kept  Helen  beside  her  on  the  back  seat  of  the 
carriage,  while  Raymond  yawned  and  drove  the 
horses  at  the  unexciting  pace  she  exacted. 

That  evening  Helen  remained  in  her  room  with 
plenty  of  food  for  thought.  She  was  trying  to 
subdue  the  indignation  in  her  heart  that  had 
finally  arisen  as  the  slow  conviction  of  Mrs.  Lar- 
rabee's  oft-displayed  fears  took  possession  of  her. 


298  AT   CREST    VIEW 

She  had  fulfilled  her  part  of  their  unwritten  con- 
tract to  the  letter.  No  paid  companion  could  be 
more  attentive  and  devoted  than  she  had  been. 
Helen's  conscience  acquitted  her.  To  go  home 
before  the  time  was  come  would  be  to  own  herself 
worsted.  But  one  week  was  left.  She  would 
brave  it  out. 

The  next  morning  she  and  Raymond  took  the 
gallop  which  was  their  regular  appetizer  for  the  late 
breakfast  Mrs.  Larrabee  preferred.  The  sun  fell 
dazzlingly  on  the  dewy  grass.  A  bluebird  called 
to  the  folded  buds.  As  they  cantered  homeward 
in  the  full  spring-tide  of  life,  of  year,  of  day, 
Helen  reined  in  her  horse. 

"  Ray,"  she  began,  the  lashes  shading  her  spar- 
kling eyes,  "  before  we  reach  the  house  I  want  to 
say  something  disagreeable." 

He  glanced  at  her,  obvious  admiration  on  his 
plain  features.  "  You  could  n't.  Don't  try." 

She  laughed.  "  How  funny  —  for  you  to  pay 
compliments !  " 

"Not  funny  at  all.  I  think  that  was  rather 
neat." 

"  Well,  I  'm  glad  you  are  in  that  mood,  for 
what  I  have  to  ask  of  you  demands  a  great  deal 
of  chivalry." 

"  What 's  up,  now  ?  " 

"  Why  —  oh,  it 's  not  at  all  easy,  you  know," 
Helen  stammered  and  blushed,  notwithstanding 
the  business-like  tone  in  which  she  contrived  to 


AT   CREST    VIEW  299 

frame  her  sentence.  "  I  want  you  to  be  —  so 
awfully  good  as  to  —  to  let  me  —  refuse  you." 

Raymond  looked  slowly  at  her  and  flicked  his 
riding-boot  with  his  whip.  "  Oh !  is  that  all  ? 
"Well,  you  would  be  the  first  girl  to  have  the 
chance." 

"  And  you  know,"  she  returned  ingratiatingly, 
and  rather  short  of  breath,  "  there  must  be  a 
first.'' 

"  You  think  so  ?  "  with  a  short  laugh.  "  Thank 
you." 

"  No,  no  !  That  is  n't  what  I  meant !  I  'm 
confused,  and  you  must  forgive  me ;  but  the  point 
is  that  your  mother  is  evidently  afraid  that  you  — 
that  I  —  yes,  she  thinks  —  and  I  have  to  stay 
here  a  week  longer  "  —  oh,  how  hard  he  made  it, 
staring  at  her  so  gravely !  —  "  and  we  've  been 
such  good  friends,  it  would  make  it  so  much  pleas- 
anter  for  us  all  if  you  could  just  tell  her  that 
I  did  n't  —  but  "  —  suddenly,  and  crimson  with 
blushes  —  "  I  see  you  're  not  willing.  It 's  no  mat- 
ter ;  I  can  stand  it  '*-  She  suddenly  struck  her 
horse  with  her  whip. 

The  creature  bounded  forward,  but  Raymond 
was  too  quick.  He  seized  its  bridle,  and  simulta- 
neously threw  his  other  arm  around  her  waist  to 
preserve  her  from  the  shock. 

"  I  nearly  fell !  "  she  exclaimed  reproachfully. 

"  No,  you  did  n't,"  he  answered,  and  quieting 
the  horses,  he  continued  :  — 


300  AT   CREST    VIEW 

"  Of  course,  I  've  noticed  what  you  refer  to ; 
and  what  you  say  leads  up  to  what  is  on  my  mind. 
I  've  wanted  to  ask  your  advice  about  something 
myself  —  or  not  so  much  your  advice  as  your  sym- 
pathy and  cooperation.  Mother  has  always  been 
jealous  when  she  even  suspected  there  was  a  girl 
in  the  case.  Now  I  want  to  confess  to  you  that  I 
am  in  love  ;  not  passingly  and  superficially,  but 
with  a  feeling  that  will  only  deepen  all  my  life. 
Mother  has  not  consented.  She  won't  listen  to 
me.  I  want  to  show  you  this  woman.  She  meets 
me  sometimes  in  the  grounds  here.  She  is  coming 
to-night.  I  want  you  to  be  at  our  meeting-place, 
if  you  will."  Raymond's  lips,  Helen  noted,  had 
grown  pale,  and  his  words  came  with  difficulty. 
"  Now,  where  do  you  think  filial  duty  should  cease 
and  a  man's  own  life-happiness  should  begin  to  be 
considered  ?  " 

Helen,  too,  had  lost  color  in  her  surprise.  "  I 
don't  know  the  woman,  remember.  It  is  too  much 
responsibility  to  take  !  Don't  ask  me." 

"Yes,  I  ask  you  to  come  and  see  her.  If  she 
is  all  I  believe  her  to  be,  have  I  not  the  right  to 
claim  my  own  ?  Don't  refuse  me  this  !  At  the 
head  of  the  ravine  at  ten  o'clock  to-night.  I  claim 
it  in  the  name  of  our  friendship." 

Helen  gazed  between  her  horse's  ears. 

"  I  will  come,"  she  said  at  last.  Then  in  silence 
the  two  cantered  homeward. 

Helen  sat  long  before  her  desk  that  morning, 


AT   CREST    VIEW  301 

meditating  over  her  home-letter  ;  but  at  last  she 
wrote :  — 

"  I  have  made  up  my  mind  about  Harry  For- 
syth.  What  I  am  afraid  he  wants  can  never  be. 
But  I  am  so  homesick !  It  seems  to  me  the  coming 
week  will  never  pass.  I  shall  count  the  hours  and 
minutes  ;  and  rest  assured  you  will  never  get  rid 
of  me  again  !  " 

All  day  her  mood  was  so  strangely  quiet  that 
Mrs.  Larrabee  was  especially  kind.  Raymond 
made  a  long  afternoon  in  town,  and  at  dinner  was 
abstracted.  His  mother  made  up  her  mind  that 
the  young  people  had  had  a  misunderstanding,  and 
she  devoutly  hoped  it  would  last  until  Helen  was 
safely  started  on  her  homeward  journey. 

In  the  evening  Raymond  went  to  make  a  call, 
and  Helen  read  aloud  to  her  hostess.  The  latter 
always  retired  early,  out  of  respect  to  her  invalid- 
ism,  and  a  little  before  ten  the  girl  went  to  the 
window,  hoping  that  some  sign  of  weather  would 
release  her  from  her  promise.  The  full  golden 
moon  returned  her  gaze  calmly.  The  tall  trees 
beckoned  in  the  hush  of  night. 

Helen  turned  resolutely  to  her  dressing-table. 
Without  a  glance  at  her  own  pale  face,  she  threw 
a  wrap  about  her  head  and  shoulders  and  hurried 
out.  Softly  leaving  the  house,  she  ran  across  the 
smooth  lawn  in  and  out  of  shadows  until  she 
reached  the  adjacent  ravine,  whose  steep  depth 
was  musical  with  a  narrow  tumbling  brook. 


302  AT   CREST    VIEW 

A  man  stepped  into  the  moonlight. 

"  Thank  you,  Helen  !  "  he  said  warmly,  holding 
out  his  hand.  She  was  arranging  the  lace  about 
her  head  and  did  not  meet  his  movement. 

"  Are  we  early  ?  It  is  ten,  is  n't  it  ?  "  she 
asked. 

"  Perhaps  ;  but  while  we  wait,  won't  you  answer 
my  question  of  this  morning  ?  I  think  a  great 
deal  of  your  opinion.  You  know  mother,  and  you 
know  me.  How  long  should  I  continue  to  pay 
regard  to  her  in  this  matter?  I  beg  for  your 
sympathy  and  cooperation." 

He  looked  so  big  and  sturdy  standing  there,  so 
masterful  and  able  to  conduct  his  own  affairs, 
Helen  felt  a  thrill  at  the  idea  of  his  depending 
upon  her  in  any  degree. 

"  What  are  you  afraid  of?"  she  asked,  with  a 
hardness  and  dryness  that  shocked  herself.  "Afraid 
that  your  mother  might  have  heart-failure  if  you 
persisted,  or  that  she  would  cut  you  off  with  a 
shilling?" 

The  man's  eyes  shone  with  eagerness  as  he  tried 
to  read  her  face,  but  her  back  was  to  the  soft 
moonlight. 

"  You  have  changed  to  me,  Helen  !     Why  ?  " 

"  Nothing  —  except  that  our  life  was  play,  and 
now  it  is  earnest.  Answer  if  I  am  to  help  you." 

"  It  is  very  likely  that  mother  would  cut  me  off 
with  a  shilling." 

"  And  that  restrains  you  ?  " 


AT   CREST    VIEW  303 

He  could  feel  her  scorn  if  he  could  not  see  it. 
"  Should  it  not,  for  the  girl's  sake  ?  This  is  a  nice 
place." 

"  What  is  a  place  worth  ?  Are  n't  you  a  strong 
man  ?  You  can  be  as  kind  to  your  mother  as 
ever  —  kinder  than  ever  ;  but  she  shouldn't  con- 
trol you  in  this  —  especially  since  you  have  made 
this  girl  —  love  you." 

"  I  have  hoped  sometimes  that  I  have  ;  but  how 
can  I  be  sure  ?  " 

"  Sure  ?  Does  n't  she  meet  you  here  at  night  ?  " 
The  acute  voice  changed  to  one  that  faltered.  "  I 
wish  she  would  hurry.  I  am  cold." 

Raymond  advanced  a  step  and  enfolded  her  in 
his  arms. 

She  fluttered.     "  What  are  you  doing  ?  " 

"  Warming  you.  Lean  your  head  against  me, 
Helen  ;  that  is  the  sympathy  I  want.  Give  me 
your  lips ;  that  is  the  cooperation  I  long  for.  You 
must  love  me,  for  I  love  every  inch  of  you,  every 
thought  of  you,  every  look  of  you.  Do  you  remem- 
ber what  you  asked  me  this  morning  ?  Now,  then, 
refuse  me  if  you  dare  !  " 

His  cheek  was  pressed  against  her  hair,  and  she 
was  trembling  and  clinging  to  him. 

"  Oh,  Raymond  !  "  she  whispered,  after  a  long 
]>:uise.  "  Let  us  sit  up  all  night.  We  may  never 
have  another !  "  • 

"  Why,  sweetheart,  where  has  all  that  courage 
flown  ?  " 


304  AT   CREST    VIEW 

"  Oh  —  we  could  n't  hurt  her  feelings !  " 

"  Could  n't  ?     I  only  hope  she  can't  hurt  ours." 

"  Why  —  she  can't,"  said  Helen  softly. 

And,  sure  enough,  Mrs.  Larrabee  could  n't, 
though  she  tried  to  conscientiously. 

The  lovers  appeared  before  her  in  the  morning, 
her  son  announced  cheerfully  his  desire  to  be  dis- 
inherited, and  her  visitor  declared  her  willingness 
to  return  home  immediately  in  punishment  for 
having  stolen  her  hostess's  most  valuable  posses- 
sion. 

In  short,  they  so  completely  took  the  wind  out 
of  the  outraged  mother's  sails  that  there  was  little 
left  her  to  do  but  press  both  hands  upon  her  heart 
and  have  palpitation  unlimited,  while  she  glared 
upon  them  speechless  for  a  minute. 

"  You  are  both  of  you  selfish  and  ungrateful," 
she  announced  at  last. 

"  Please  don't  call  me  ungrateful !  "  pleaded 
Helen,  throwing  herself  suddenly  on  her  knees 
beside  the  indignant  woman.  "  I  've  always  been 
grateful  to  you  over  and  over  again  all  my  life  ; 
and  did  n't  you  send  for  me  and  make  me  stay 
here,  and  throw  temptation  in  my  way  ?  And  how 
could  I  help  loving  him  ?  And  I  never  knew  it 
at  all  till  yesterday,  and  now  I  'm  going  home  " 

"  Indeed  you  are  n't !  N«t  until  Rebecca  Hard- 
ing comes  !  Don't  say  another  word  about  it !  " 

"  And   shall  I  send  Mr.   Bingham  out  to  see 


AT    CREST    VIEW  305 

about  changing  your  will  ?"  asked  Raymond  duti- 
fully. 

"  Thank  you.  I  am  able  to  attend  to  my  own 
business.  You  had  better  go  into  New  York  and 
begin  to  work  in  earnest." 

"  Yes,  I  'm  going,  mother."  He  stooped  and 
kissed  her,  and  in  so  doing  drew  Helen  into  the 
same  embrace,  so  that  Mrs.  Larrabee  was  not  only 
in  a  tight  place,  but  a  loving  one. 

She  bore  it  for  a  stiff  instant,  and  then  she 
began  to  cry. 

Raymond  signaled  eagerly  across  her  bowed 
head  to  his  fiancee  :  "  It  's  all  right." 

And  Helen  nodded  back  through  bright  tears : 
"  It 's  aU  right." 

Gertrude  Morton,  when  she  heard  of  it,  said 
again :  "  Just  Nell's  luck !  "  Then  added :  "  Poor 
Harry  Forsyth !  " 

Her  sister  Lucy  smiled  complacently  and  patted 
her  fluffy  hair.  "  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  she  remarked. 


CAMBRIDGE,    MASSACHUSETTS,    U.    S.    A. 

ELECTROTYPED  AND  PRINTED    BY 

H.    O.    HOUGHTON   AND   CO. 


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